How much pain are your rail electronic circuit boards causing you?

Is transit and rail electronics repair one of your biggest headaches? Read on - this could save your technicians hours of work!

How do you repair boards quickly so rolling stock can return to service fast? What equipment do you use for transportation PCB repair and test? Are you still using a multimeter and an oscilloscope to check every individual component? What happens when you don’t have the manufacturer’s documentation?

There is a solution to your problems. You need to inquire into the efficient and affordable products that are employed in PCB repair by over 40 transit and rail services based in the USA, Korea, Ireland, UK, France, Brazil, Turkey, Taiwan, and China. This equipment is used for all aspects of transport electronics, including communications equipment, navigation systems, monitoring, speed & brake controllers, and management systems.

What is this wizardry?

It’s the SYSTEM 8 BoardMaster from UK-based ABI Electronics. Transport repair centers around the world are equipping themselves with this system to enable optimal fault coverage and maintenance capabilities in a wide range of situations. The BoardMaster is the test instrument of choice for an increasing number of rail and transit agencies.

When it comes to circuit boards, it is far more cost effective to repair than replace. In addition, you can increase up-time of your key transportation equipment, and keep your colleagues happy by shortening repair and return times and reducing inventory. Transit and rail system operators worldwide have begun to realize this trend and have incorporated ABI’s universal BTE (Benchtop Test Equipment) BoardMaster to be used as the main test and fault analysis platform or in conjunction with other dedicated, Go/NoGo Automatic Test Equipment (ATEs) to support and repair rolling stock and infrastructure systems.

As examples, San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA) uses ABI products as their test equipment of choice for new rail vehicles that were not provided with the manufacturer’s repair equipment. ABI products are also used by Latin America’s largest underground system, Metro Sao Paulo, in Brazil. Interestingly, Metro Sao Paulo also uses ABI’s RevEng (schematic learning) systems to generate missing schematics in order to support their repair processes on obsolete equipment. As a result, US$50 million was saved by the agency within 5 years. The Irish Rail recently became a user and big advocate of ABI’s BoardMaster and RevEng. Finally, Korea’s Korail and TCDD in Turkey have both adopted ABI test systems to support sub-assemblies found in freight as well as high-speed passenger trains.

The BoardMaster is a unique, versatile, easy-to-use PCB test system that uses a selection of test modules to create a PC-driven PCB test station. The BoardMaster, which can be built in a PC case or 19” rack-mounted, is based on a comprehensive set of test instruments for complete testing and fault-finding needs on almost any kind of PCB. The system’s flexibility means it can be easily implemented guaranteeing an ROI in 12 months or less (on average).

Equally at home with analog or digital PCBs, the system incorporates a full range of test instruments in one compact box. A variety of available test methods creates a cost-effective solution for electronics fault-finding across a wide range of industries, including aircraft and transportation maintenance, military, renewable energy, automotive manufacturing, and more.

Comparing results with a known good board with automated-sequence fault-finding procedures, fault diagnosis becomes possible by minimally-trained staff. The SYSTEM 8 Ultimate Software which is provided as standard, can be configured to guide users step-by-step through an interactive test procedure, with custom-annotated picture images, instrument displays, instructions, videos, and datasheets to reach Pass/Fail results fast. Repairs can therefore be completed much faster and more economically than using traditional oscilloscopes, meters and other dedicated bench test methods.

ABI products are readily available and fully supported in North America by the company’s technical distributor Saelig Company Inc. Rail and transit companies in North America enjoy assistance provided by Integrity Rail Products.

To request a live online demo of ABI’s range of troubleshooting and repair systems for the North American rail industry, email your inquiry to [email protected]. And to learn more about ABI Electronics' capabilities in the rail industry, check out this video as well!

#Repairdontwaste // #ABISavesYouTime // #Electronics // #Rollingstock