Double Decker Panel Problem

The Earth Leakage INDICATION relay

ERRUs. All different inside the box.

Battery Maintenance Seminar By M/S Amar Raja

On Dt. 29.03.2011 staff training seminar was arranged at BDTS Depot about correct maintenance practices of VRLA Batteries. It was conducted by M/S AMAR RAJA. About 55 Nos. of staff attended this interactive training session and clarified their doubts and problems. Maintenance supervisors also discussed their battery failures. Following points are noted: a) It is advised that vent plug of the cell should be cleaned regularly. b) RRU / ERRU should have the voltage sating 128.5 Volt. c) Cell terminal connections should be checked for 11Nm once in 03 Months. d) Physical examination in every trip for any type of leakages. Cell should not be allowed in same condition. e) Cell voltage Meter should be calibrated at least once in a year. f) Individual cell less then 1.75 Volt should not be allowed. g) PL – Shop : POHed coach, Battery Sets should be charged for 72Hrs. and discharged for 10Hrs. @ of 10% of rated AH. This cycle must be done Twice before putting the battery set in POHed Coach.

Electronic Ballast

Following types of 110 V DC are in use in coaches:-

• 11 W AC/DC ( for CFL in TL Coaches )


• 20 W DC ( for Tubelights in TL Coaches )


• 18 W AC/DC ( for LHB tubelights )


• 11 W DC and 20 W DC ( for SGAC AC coaches )

Quite a lot inventory to manage ! and failures are still there e.g Fuse Blown, Power Transistor failure, Power Diode failure,Electrolytic condensor burst, and Zener diode failure.

Dangerous Drilling in LHB Coaches

Recently we came across the root cause of Mini-Pantry supply failures. The drill damage shown in above 2.5 sq.mm E-beam cable came as shock ! These are the cables that feed deep-freezer, hotcase and bottle coolers of Min-Pantries.

What happens is that these cables are running behind the wall panels of LHB coaches. Now for fixing the hooks, mechanical department drills into wall, unaware of the 230 V live cables running behind the wall !

Quite often, the drill damages PVC conduits and the cables as shown above. This is dangerous as damage to 230 V cables just inside the passenger coach can lead to fire also.

Problem of LHB Microprocessors

There are 4 makes of microprocessor in LHB RMPUs. All have different circuit designs. Now the problem is that being high value item, we can't make them stock items and being different generic designs, we can't make some parts as stock. Now when any of the part fails we generate non-stock demand and then coach runs with microprocessor bypassed till procurement.
Most of the time, we find staff not so skilled to find out which card, IC or PCb has beome defective in the microprocessor.

Any solutions?

New Duronto Rakes Commissioned

RCF make coaches and power cars and pantry cars of New BCT-IND and BCT-JP have been commissioned in the BCT depot. Follwoing are the lessons learnt:-

• M/S Amit make RMPU gave lot of trouble.
• Engines of M/S Greaves Cotton are still being attended.
• Bill of material, Vendor List and Manuals are awaited from RCF.

Major problems encountered are as follows:-

• Large gap between radiator side louvres in power car body make all the dust come inside the enegine room.

Engine inlet air and silencer air ducts are so badly placed that you cant dismantle the ventilation fan without first removing these ducts. As a result the vent fan replacement work which was just 30 minutes job now needs complete day.

Pump is located at such a place that dirt CDTS water and wash basin water falls upon it while on run.

Inferior quality inter-tank connecting pipe and valves have been provided. These pipes and valves dont last even a week.

Water filling cap in west side of power cars are too close to the 60KVA transformers.

As a result, transformers get drenched while water filling.

•