Combined jetting and suction truck
Cor Kuin in Silkeborg, Denemarken
Introduction
This is a part of my report I did for my work placement in Denmark. I had a good time there, at work, with colleagues, but also after work, with new friends.
For the education mechanical engineering of the Horizon College I did a working practice in Denmark. I worked at J. Hvidtved Larsen in Silkeborg where they make about 50 new trucks a year. They do the engineering, building and all the maintenance of the trucks if the customer is coming back with problems. During my working practice I have worked at all the different parts of the company.
The first thing is the drawing section where they draw the new trucks and always try to innovate the trucks with new technologies. All the customers can choose different trucks, options and they can order things that not have build on a truck before. So for every new truck there is a lot of work to do. Here have I worked later during my working practice and I learned something more about the way they work.
I started my working practise at the pre-building. A factory like Mercedes, Scania and DAF delivers the new trucks to the company where it comes at the pre-building site. These trucks have only a chassis with nothing on it. Here do they change the chassis to make it ready to place all the things like engines, pumps, valves, the tank and closets. When the chassis is ready all the things are placed. They only don’t install all the electric, pneumatic and hydraulic hoses and wires because the car first has to be painted. Before the painting they disassemble the whole truck and send it to the painter.
When all the things come back from the painter it goes to another building site the ‘slutmontage’. Here they build up the trucks again with all the painted parts and install all the hoses, electrics, and program the PLC. Then the truck is almost complete but they need to test all the things of the truck and fix the often little problems like leaks. I also worked at this place where I helped building a truck for Russia from the beginning till all the final tests.
Also there is the service site where they repair all the problems and do normal maintenance. The trucks come to the company and drive in the service place. Here is a team from about 5 people who fix all the problems. Most of the time I worked at the service. I think this is the place I like the most from the company because everyday you see other problems and you need to find a way to fix it. All the things we have learned with the education do you see here and can you use to find a proper solution for the problem.
Problems
The Tank and the partition are both made out of steel. The partition moves in the whole tank so the steel of the tank will get thinner also the sand in the water will damage the steel. Also some tanks are often filled with hard water or chemicals so the tank will rust quicker. Also the belt for locking the partition will wear out and won’t seal off properly anymore. So after 2 till 8 years the belt has to be replaced. Also they check then the thickness of the steel-tank. When it’s below 4 mm its not save enough to use it anymore. Sometimes they weld in a new bottom area because this is the part that first gets thin. When that is not possible its time for a new tank or truck. But normally the trucks can be used for 15 years when they are good maintained. For replacing the bottom the whole tank have to be taken of and repaired at the tank welding part of the company.
Conclusion
During my traineeship in Denmark I have learned a lot about the function of combined jetting and suction trucks. Also fixing the most typical problems that a truck can have. The problems fitted well into the education I have received. There were problems with pneumatics, hydraulics, electrics, bearings, axles, welding connections, hose connections and combinations of these problems.
I learned a lot about working at a service workshop. From easy things like getting a bolt out that is totally stuck till restoring whole pumps. The things we had learned at school about pneumatics did you see here used on trucks for opening mechanical valves operated by the PLC. Also starting up a pump by one press on a button is a combination of electrics, pneumatics, the PLC, hydraulics, axles bearings and valves. This was the best part of the traineeship to see all the separate things we had learned at school working together on a single truck.
Also at school we saw hydraulic motors and learned about the working, in the service workshop trucks came in with broken motors. It was not very difficult to fix these things because you knew the function of what it which makes it much easier to fix.
The axle that is connected to the hydraulic motor is rotating in ball bearings. At school we have learned on a table how to align these bearings for good working. When you are working under a truck to align these bearings it’s nice that you know what to do because it is hard to see when you work under a truck.
The people at the company were nice, and they always wanted to help. I also liked it a lot that we had a big spare parts depot, so when you had to fix something you could go to there and pick up whatever you needed. When it was not there, it was there almost always the next day. This works a lot quicker, compared to when you have to wait for little things.
I liked it a lot working and living in Denmark, it is a nice people who always want to help if there is something they can do. Also it was a nice city to live in. It was not a really big city but everything you needed was there. Also it was a nice place to go out with my friends. The people were nice and liked to talk even when they didn’t know you. On the streets are almost never fights or problems
