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There are still pneumatic controls operating HVAC equipment all over the place. A lot of it is being replaced with electronic temperature controls as the servic
by quickthrowman 6y ago
There are still pneumatic controls operating HVAC equipment all over the place. A lot of it is being replaced with electronic temperature controls as the service life of the existing HVAC equipment comes to an end and it gets replaced. Facilities are now looking to interface HVAC temperature controls in with wider building automation systems.
The only context I see pneumatic controls in is a system to be demolished and replaced, so it’s neat to see how they work and how they’re functionally equivalent to electronic logic gates.
- userbinator 6y agoThat's sad to hear, because the original controls would probably outlast the new electronic stuff with only a bit of regular maintenance.
- meditative 6y agoThere's no remote monitoring, they're more complex and expensive. You need either multiple compressors, or run long stretches of hose/pipe. They're super cool and rewarding to work with, everything feels like steam punk, but there's no real practical reason to keep them there. The electronic stuff is _very_ reliable when installed correctly and quality parts are used, much like the pneumatic systems. The only place that _might_ make sense to leave them in a little longer is inside a hazardous environment, which requires detailed certification for installed electrical equipment.
- ganzuul 6y agoSince a bad solar flare could mess up our electronic stuff we should at least keep the equipment we need to rebuild society not sensitive to EMP.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- danielheath 6y agoStill easier to shield existing digital gear for EMP. Compared to the cost when one inevitably does hit the shielding is dirt cheap.
- ganzuul 6y agoYou should test that shielding though, and AFAIK the dangerous voltage enters equipment through cables. Unless everything is fiber optics you would need some chonky optocouplers on all signal paths. Pneumatic air is usually supplied with plastic tube and hose. There are no unexpected electrical circuits coupling to unrelated equipment.
- meditative 6y agoit will no doubt damage a lot of equipment, it's still cheaper to replace everything than to have incompatible spare pneumatic gear laying around.
- ganzuul 6y agoI think the problem is one of bootstrapping. With PLCs controlling even sewage pumps society will have a lot of more important things to do before we come around to fixing elevators, automatic doors, or even chip fabs. Then there are herds of forgotten VAXen and AS400s that have been chugging along for decades running who knows what mission critical code, all gone without as much as specs remaining. The less basic infrastructure which is wiped out the faster we can rebuild. Right now it looks like we will be falling back to whatever cam-actuated automatic lathes which have not been sold below scrap value that are left. And I hear those things are a bitch to set up.
- seanmcdirmid 6y agoI don’t know. Pneumatics involve a lot more friction than a digital system would. That regular maintenance would probably involve replacing things as they were worn down.
- ganzuul 6y agoThe equipment I'm working with seems fine for a few million cycles and a couple of decades of use. They are also less sensitive to heat than electrolytic capacitors.