Fluid Power Industry

[robescc]

I was wondering if there are any members in the Fluid Power Industry. I am going to school to get my tech degree in Fluid Power. It is a 6 quarter program dedicated to Hydraulics and Pneumatics. I was told about it by a friend of mine who took the course about 10 years ago. After having a ruff time in the cabinetry field, I decided to go back to school. I am blown away at how many companies come to us. Some want us to sign a contract to work for them when we graduate. Last year, there was an average of 7 job offers per graduate. It looks like I have made a wise decision. If anyone is thinking about going back to school, I would highly recommend it. There are 13 key schools around the Country. It is not an easy course though. We started with 23 in September and were down to 9 by the end of the first Quarter. We gained 13 new students in January and are now down to only 16.
I would really like to go into the Pneumatics part of the field but am not dead set on it.
How has the industry treated you? What part are you in?

Rob

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

just remember one thing..................


"there is a seat for every asshole out there"

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

There's work out there for sure..mostly service though. Nowdays it seems like more hydraulic cylinders are coming from overseas that are too cheap to bother rebuilding. Elevator work pays good but is usually union run or private corporate-we-only-give-our-buddies-jobs kind of deals. I focus primarily on automotive equipment and work has been really slow for the past 4 years or so. For what its worth, I never took a college class on the subject.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

FWIW, I am/was a Millwright before the accident so I can say I do have experience designing, building, and maintaining both hydraulic and pneumatic systems. I've done things from simple log splitters (linear and rotary) to servo systems that could also be either linear or rotary.

[[replacing flux magnets on tempasonic rod systems is messy and fun]]

Plumbing a bank of pilot operated control valves for a gang can be a spaghetti mess if not thought out. Though I am sure there are others here who are into avionics and whatnot that can cavitate circles around me.

<span style="text-decoration: underline">P1(V1)</span>=<span style="text-decoration: underline">P2(V2)</span>
T1(D1) T2(D2)

This helps, to start.

 

[robescc]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

I know a lot of guys in the industry don't go to school for it. I am 29 years old and for me to start at the bottom and not know anything can't happen. I can't support a family on those wages. At least when I get done, I can tell you what the components are, what they do and how to hook them up. I am really into the electrical controls too. In my opinion, it takes years to learn the theory behind what is happening while you are on the job. You don't learn anything when you are only replacing valves and cylinders all day. This will give me a step up from the normal guy that started in a shop. Yes, he will have the work experience but so do I. Just in a different career. The average starting wage for us is $60k a year out of school. If I went to work in a shop not knowing anything, I might get $12 an hour. At least around here.

 

[worvin]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

I used pneumatics and hydraulics as a part of my job prior to retirement. Worked in a plant making beer and pop can lids, about 9 billion of them per year at one point. Used a lot of pneumatic cylinders to move the product around.

I would guess that there is a pretty good job market for folks like you in manufacturing. Not in manufacturing the product itself, but in the use of the devices in a manufacturing environment.

Those of us who had to know how all that stuff worked made real good money. They are still having trouble hiring folks who can handle it since I retired. It's not something that is taught in schools around here.

Good luck to you. I hope one of those "7" job offers you might get is the right fit for your skills.

 

[worvin]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

Looks like robescc and I posted at about the same instant. I was also on the electrical end of things. I worked with programmable logic controllers. These controllers ran stacks (manifolds) of air valves to operate cylinders and rotary actuators. If you can also learn the PLC stuff, you will get a lot better job.

The two fields kinda go together. The PLC sends out the signal to make the move and then sensors determine if the move has been made. Then the next step in the sequence starts. Knowing both ends of the game is a real step up.

As robescc stated, 60K is about where folks with knowledge of both systems can expect.

 

[robescc]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sean the Nailer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">FWIW, I am/was a Millwright before the accident so I can say I do have experience designing, building, and maintaining both hydraulic and pneumatic systems. I've done things from simple log splitters (linear and rotary) to servo systems that could also be either linear or rotary.

[[replacing flux magnets on tempasonic rod systems is messy and fun]]

Plumbing a bank of pilot operated control valves for a gang can be a spaghetti mess if not thought out. Though I am sure there are others here who are into avionics and whatnot that can cavitate circles around me.

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">P1(V1)</span>=<span style="text-decoration: underline">P2(V2)</span>
T1(D1) T2(D2)</span>

This helps, to start. </div></div>

Good old Charles Law. Equation can also be written as V1*P1*T2=V2*P2*T1

What was the D variable in your equation?
Charles Law is just a copy cat of Boyles Law. Boyles Law is much easier to understand too.
Can you tell me what Pascal's Law is and not use Google to find it?
Right now we are hammering on the math table to come up with all of the equations on a High/Low system. It is a pain to have to remember all of the formulas.

 

[robescc]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

We will be learning PLC's in Spring Quarter. We have the summer off and then back to more PLC's and Hydraulics. The last 3 Quarter of the program are mostly hands on. Students run the shop just like a business.

 

[varmint slayer]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

PLC's and ladder logic programming can take you lots of places in itself even if the Hydraulic's thing don't pan out. PLC's are used everyday in the oil and gas fields to control motors, valves and a ton of other stuff along with a slew of other industry. If a guy knows PLC's and ladder logic and is willing to relocate to one of the major oil and gas plays, he can make a lot of money. Not really on subject with this thread but something to consider. Good luck.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: robescc</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good old Charles Law. Equation can also be written as V1*P1*T2=V2*P2*T1

What was the D variable in your equation?
Charles Law is just a copy cat of Boyles Law. Boyles Law is much easier to understand too.
Can you tell me what Pascal's Law is and not use Google to find it?
Right now we are hammering on the math table to come up with all of the equations on a High/Low system. It is a pain to have to remember all of the formulas.</div></div>
Actually, this is a simile to Avogadro's law, whereas:
-explained here-
D in this case is for Density

Pascal's law as I remember it, is that the pressure inside a chamber is equal and opposite upon all surfaces. I forget exactly how it was worded more eloquently, but along that jist.

 

[robescc]

Re: Fluid Power Industry

After a few minutes of reading, Avogadro's Law is the same as Boyle's Law. A volume of gas held at a constant temp. will increase the pressure as the volume decreases. Pressure and volume are inversely proportional.
Many copied Boyles law. Charles Law is another form of it.

Pascals Law states that a fluid under pressure distributes that pressure equally in all directions.
This law still applies even with fluid in an open container because there is atmospheric pressure on everything.
Force=Pressure*Area