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This is Hooovahh

Wire color in test stand

 

I was contracted out to do the software on a test system, where another company was doing the hardware.  They purchased the hardware, built the stand, wired up the system and then had me come in and deploy the software.  The system had several NI DAQ cards and they broke out to SCB-68 terminal blocks that all the IO was then wired to.  I started debugging my software and I wasn’t seeing the signal values that I expected.  So I opened up the stand and started tracing the wires to see if it was wired right.  When I opened the test stand I saw lots of red wires, I mean lots and lots of wires with red insulation on it.  So I opened up one of the SCB and...no labels on any of the wires.  The SCB had probably 2 black wires (also not labeled) and probably another 50 or so red wires.

 

The engineer that wired up the test system was standing by and made the comment:

 

“There is a color code to help you.  If the wire is black, it is a ground.  If the wire is red, it might be a ground.  I started with black wire and ran out and had to use red for ground in a few places.”

 

Tracing wires, and using a meter to find where the wires go was a bit of a pain.  I'm pretty sure that was the last test system he made.

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@Hooovahh wrote:

When I opened the test stand I saw lots of red wires, I mean lots and lots of wires with red insulation on it.


That's a lot of 5V power lines. (ATX Standard).

 

I once heard of a test system at a company I used to work at where the technician wired a power line through a fan grating.  There were a lot more "issues" with that system, but that is the one I especially remember.  Needless to say, the customer was furious and a different technician was sent to fix it.  The new technician pretty much ripped everything out and completely rewired it.  Supposedly, the customer made a plaque stating to never buy a test system from that company again.  Luckily for me, I got to install new racks about a decade later as a fresh graduate.  I put in a good year cleaning up that system as much as possible, from spinning the interface board to major cleanup of the C++ code.  The other system I did at the same time was a complete redesign, including using LabVIEW instead of Borland C++.


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@Hooovahh wrote:

Wire color in test stand

 

The engineer that wired up the test system was standing by and made the comment:

Poor guy, he probably should have had more oversight from someone else at the company... 

 

"I would have opened a new spool of black wire, but I heard there is a highlight execution feature so you can see what data is on each wire" 😄

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@Hooovahh wrote:

Wire color in test stand

 

I was contracted out to do the software on a test system, where another company was doing the hardware.  They purchased the hardware, built the stand, wired up the system and then had me come in and deploy the software.  The system had several NI DAQ cards and they broke out to SCB-68 terminal blocks that all the IO was then wired to.  I started debugging my software and I wasn’t seeing the signal values that I expected.  So I opened up the stand and started tracing the wires to see if it was wired right.  When I opened the test stand I saw lots of red wires, I mean lots and lots of wires with red insulation on it.  So I opened up one of the SCB and...no labels on any of the wires.  The SCB had probably 2 black wires (also not labeled) and probably another 50 or so red wires.

 

The engineer that wired up the test system was standing by and made the comment:

 

“There is a color code to help you.  If the wire is black, it is a ground.  If the wire is red, it might be a ground.  I started with black wire and ran out and had to use red for ground in a few places.”

 

Tracing wires, and using a meter to find where the wires go was a bit of a pain.  I'm pretty sure that was the last test system he made.


The United States Navy did not allow personnel with Red-Green color blindness to train as an Electronics Technician.   

 

If I say, "Keep your stick on the ice!" Will I get a lifetime supply of kudos or duct tape?

 


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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@JÞB wrote:

If I say, "Keep your stick on the ice!" Will I get a lifetime supply of kudos or duct tape?


Alas, I can only give 1 kudo...


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There are only two ways to tell somebody thanks: Kudos and Marked Solutions
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"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God" - 2 Corinthians 3:5
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@crossrulz wrote:

@JÞB wrote:

If I say, "Keep your stick on the ice!" Will I get a lifetime supply of kudos or duct tape?


Alas, I can only give 1 kudo...


Oh no! Can A lifetime supply of duct tape  be forthcoming? 

 

Thankfully, I do not believe that my current postal address is public knowledge. 😉


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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@JÞB wrote:


The United States Navy did not allow personnel with Red-Green color blindness to train as an Electronics Technician.   


Oh that reminds me that my electronics professor was color blind and had a hard time reading the various color codes resistors.  He could do most of them but every once in a while he would have to ask what the colors were.

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@Hooovahh wrote:

@JÞB wrote:


The United States Navy did not allow personnel with Red-Green color blindness to train as an Electronics Technician.   


Oh that reminds me that my electronics professor was color blind and had a hard time reading the various color codes resistors.  He could do most of them but every once in a while he would have to ask what the colors were.


There's an app for that nowadays. Several actually. Haven't tried any of them.

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wiebe@CARYA wrote:

@Hooovahh wrote:

@JÞB wrote:


The United States Navy did not allow personnel with Red-Green color blindness to train as an Electronics Technician.   


Oh that reminds me that my electronics professor was color blind and had a hard time reading the various color codes resistors.  He could do most of them but every once in a while he would have to ask what the colors were.


There's an app for that nowadays. Several actually. Haven't tried any of them.


Not when you can't see the difference between 2 and 6


"Should be" isn't "Is" -Jay
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@JÞB wrote:

wiebe@CARYA wrote:

@Hooovahh wrote:

@JÞB wrote:


The United States Navy did not allow personnel with Red-Green color blindness to train as an Electronics Technician.   


Oh that reminds me that my electronics professor was color blind and had a hard time reading the various color codes resistors.  He could do most of them but every once in a while he would have to ask what the colors were.


There's an app for that nowadays. Several actually. Haven't tried any of them.


Not when you can't see the difference between 2 and 6


This makes me curious - I know there are apps that interpret the resistor color code for you, but has anyone come across an app that actually does the "looking" for you? That uses a built-in camera to "see" the colors and interpret the resistor value?

-joeorbob

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