McElroy Discussion Forums

According to my manual, there is companion program that I can install on my PC to download joint reports from my Datalogger. However, I have misplaced my diskette. How do I get another copy of the disk, and how much does it cost?

Dear Datalogger User,
The companion program is called McElroy Joint Reporter, and it is shipped with every new DataLogger™ and Coach™ system. It replaces the old DataLogger™ Companion program. The McElroy Joint Reporter runs on Windows 95 or higher operating systems including Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows Me.

Thanks to the Internet, you can download the software from our web site. Here’s the link to the web page: http://services.mcelroymfg.com/drawings/DL/software.htm

Please read and follow the instructions on the web page to download and install the program. After you downloaded and extracted the files on to your PC, please read the “readme.txt” file for more instructions on installing the program on your PC. If you successfully installed the program, your will have a McElroy Joint Reporter icon on your Program group when you click on Start and look under Program.

Kean,
Thanks for the info. I downloaded and installed the McElroy Joint Reporter program. However, I could not download reports from the Datalogger to my PC. It gave me an error message. Please help.

Datalogger User,
The most common download problems are:


Using the wrong cable or cable adapter, and plugging into the wrong port on the PC.

Selecting the wrong COM port. This is usually the case for PC’s with two or more serial ports. You must first find out which serial port you are connecting to, then go to the “Settings” menu and choose the corresponding serial port. The McElroy Joint Reporter program allows you to choose from four serial ports.

Some other program on your PC is using the serial port. If you have a handheld computer such as a Palm, you may be using the serial port for Hot Sync. If that is the case, you will need to disable Hot Sync before using the McElroy Joint Reporter program.

Another tip: I would first put the DataLogger™ in the upload mode before telling the McElroy Joint Reporter to download. It works better this way.

Kean,
You are right. I have a Palm IIIxe, and it uses my serial port to Hot Sync. I was able to download my reports after disabling hot sync.

I downloaded all 4 joints, and printed them out on my laser printer. They look pretty good.

I printed these files one at a time because I can only open one report at a time. Is there a way to print more than one report?

Datalogger User,
I am glad that you were able to download the reports. Once you have the reports on your PC and have them backed up, you may delete the reports on your DataLogger™ to free up memory for future joints.

Yes, you can print more than one report at a time. Look under the file menu, and you will see “Print Many”. Click on it, and you can choose to print all the reports in a folder, or select every other report to print.

To print all reports, press Ctrl and A to select all the reports. You will see the report files highlighted. Then press the “Open” button to open and print all the selected reports.

To select a few reports, you can hold the Ctrl key, and then use your mouse to click on the files one at a time. At the end, press the “Open” button to open and print all the selected reports.

To select a range of files, click on the first file you want to print. Then hold down the Shift key, and click the last file you want to print. Finally, press the “Open” button to open and print all the selected reports.

Cool!! I was able to print them out selectively.
I have a question on a graph where the front-end plot and the summary plot looks almost the same. I have to point out that the beginning of the plot looks like our guys shifted the pressure up and down quite a bit. Perhaps they started logging too early, and logged the pipe setup and facing cycle as well.

Datalogger user,
You asked why “the front-end plot and the summary plot looks almost the same” on one of your graphs. My guess is the operator opened the carriage before turning off data logging at the end of the cool cycle.

This does not affect the integrity of a properly made joint, but it causes the front-end plot to skip highlighting the soak cycle like it is supposed to. This is a very rare condition, given that the McElroy Joint Reporter has built-in algorithm to try its very best to guess where the soak cycle ends and the fuse cycle beings. Your operator has definitely created a very rare condition by forgetting to stop logging before removing the fused pipe

When a joint report shows too many lengthy ups and downs (or pressure fluctuation), the McElroy Joint Reporter cannot pin point the transition from soak to fuse. As you have pointed out, “the beginning of the plot looks like our guys shifted the pressure up and down quite a bit”. In this case, the program was unsure where to place the transition point and highlight the front-end of the process.

With this in mind, the McElroy Joint Report comes with a “Search Range” feature, where you can help the program find that transition. The default search range is 100%, that is, the program searches for the transition point over the entire plot. You can change this value in 5% increments. By adjusting that number, you are telling the program to ignore the end-portion of the plot when searching for the transition point.

Please note that adjusting the search range only affects the front-end plot. The summary plot remains the same, and it reports the entire fusion process.

Kean,
Thanks for the explanation. I changed the search range to 90%, and the front-end plot shows the soak cycle in more detail, just like the other graphs.

We then used the datalogger on another machine and a different operator. The 2 reports that this machine and operator generated looked different than the ones generated on the first machine. The soak cycle had a gradual slope down to drag pressure, whereas the first machine showed an immediate pressure drop in the soak cycle. Why the difference?

Datalogger User,
Although I cannot confirm it without seeing the reports, the second operator may have an incorrect shift sequence going into the soak cycle.

The following are steps for a proper shift sequence going into the soak cycle:


The pipes are brought in under pressure against the heater

Once the pipe ends come into contact with the heater, shift the pressure control valve to soak pressure (drag pressure)

Once the pressure gauge drops to drag pressure, shift the carriage control valve to neutral.

If the operator swapped steps 2 and 3 (by shifting carriage to neutral before lowering to drag pressure), then pressure is trapped. Instead of dropping quickly, the trapped pressure leaks out gradually and the DataLogger™ records the gradual drop in pressure.

Kean,
We corrected the problem with the second operator like you suggested, and we have graphs from him showing the correct shift sequence.

However, the first machine, which was idle yesterday, produced graphs that look “hairy”. Also, there were a lot more data points recorded by the Datalogger. I notice the machine shakes as well. Why is that?

Datalogger User,
It could be air trapped in the hydraulic system. If the machine shakes and affects the system pressure used to fuse the pipe, the DataLogger™ will pick it up and record it. Please have your maintenance department check the machine.

quote:
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Originally posted by Kean Chin:
Datalogger User,
Although I cannot confirm it without seeing the reports, the second operator may have an incorrect shift sequence going into the soak cycle.

The following are steps for a proper shift sequence going into the soak cycle:


The pipes are brought in under pressure against the heater

Once the pipe ends come into contact with the heater, shift the pressure control valve to soak pressure (drag pressure)

Once the pressure gauge drops to drag pressure, shift the carriage control valve to neutral.

If the operator swapped steps 2 and 3 (by shifting carriage to neutral before lowering to drag pressure), then pressure is trapped. Instead of dropping quickly, the trapped pressure leaks out gradually and the DataLogger™ records the gradual drop in pressure.

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As far as shift sequence is concerned, Kean is correct. You can see a very detailed explanation at: http://www.mcelroymfg.com/fusion/flash/shiftseq.htm

Jim,
Thanks for providing the link to the animation. it was great! Very educational!

Kean,
Thanks for all the information you have provided as well. We have learnt a lot.

If you don't mind, could you please fill us in on how the report files can be used or organized in the McElroy Joint Reporter?