Experts. Are we just experienced or are we experts?

Experts. Are we just experienced or are we experts?

I saw this recent comment from a multi-trade specialist who are able to offer a range of services to the building services market.

Their comment says

"Contact our team of experts today and book your free"..............

I am always concerned when someone offers a free anything because invariably this WILL end up costing money because someone always ends up paying for it. 

If you are offering to survey a project that requires the installation of anything to anything then how can you realistically cost the job without seeing it? Unless of course you are working to detailed drawings. 

One of my ex-employees (Technical Director) once saw two water tanks. Unfortunately he only charged the customer for one, so even that doesn't always work.  

Anyway let's get back to experts. 

The word “expert” is formed from the conjunction of two roots which, phonetically, can be represented as “x” and “spurt”. Everyone knows that “X” is an unknown quantity, and that a “spurt” is what one gets from squeezing a drop of water. Therefore, an expert is an unknown drip under pressure.  

Definition: Expert from an article by Jerry Cates , first published on 24 August 2011

As Jerry says the above definition although amusing is not entirely correct.

Another definition from Brainy Quote suggests

Taught by use, practice, or experience, experienced; having facility of operation or performance from practice; knowing and ready from much practice; clever; skilful; as, an expert surgeon; expert in chess or archery.

However if you look at Wikipedia then:

"In line with the socially constructed view of expertise, expertise can also be understood as a form of power; that is, experts have the ability to influence others as a result of their defined social status. By a similar token, a fear of experts can arise from fear of an intellectual elite's power". 

We all seek advice all of the time because let’s face it that is the only way to learn.

If you are selling a safety product then it is easy to influence others based upon your level of experience. 

By carefully wording the proposal you can generate a fear factor.

Is that being an expert or commercial bullying?

At RAB we offer advice based upon our own experience and have even stated:

 "Technical expertise - the best people for the best service and the best finish"

But, are we truly experts or just very experienced at what we do?

That choice is one that we have to leave to our clients. 

Take a look at  www.rabse.com and www.airintakescreen.co.uk and make your own decision once you have spoken to one of our very experienced people.

And finally "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field". 

RAB Specialist Engineers Blog

RAB Specialist Engineers Blog

Another way to use an air intake filter screen

In the world of air intake screens there always seems to be another application you have never thought of before. 

Many companies already recognise the benefit of fitting an external filter to any piece of air movement equipment was it provides an additional protection layer for valuable plant.

That is why we have installed to dry air coolers, vertical and horizontal chillers, air compressors, refrigeration display cabinets, cooling towers, building main intake louvres and AHU air intakes as well as a host of other cooling  and air movement machinery.

In a recent survey of a paper factory we were expecting to find paper fines and the normal dust, seed and other airborne pollutants causing problems. 

However, the writer was asked to survey the inside of this paper processing plant and found that they had a big problem caused by the shreds generated on the production line.

Like most modern and highly automated factories this site had miles of conveyor systems all controlled by sophisticated electrical equipment mounted inside mild steel cabinets.

The control boards, switches and plc’s all generate heat and to maximise the space each cabinet was also fitted with its own air conditioner.

These integral AC units (see http://seifertsystems.com/us/engineering/ for an example) draw ambient air into the enclosure which is then cooled, circulated and discharged back into the factory.

This fan driven air supply also draws in the paper fines, which are then deposited inside the enclosure and clog up the evaporator coil.

Obviously clogged fins are something that we have discussed regularly (see http://www.airintakescreen.co.uk/cooling-coil-filters1 ) but paper dust and fines laying on electrical components is another risk we had never considered before. Maintenance requires regular shut down and cleaning in order to minimise the risk of fire.

That is why the electrical engineer was so excited when he saw the patented Permatron R1 Magnetic Filter which could be placed on the intake without drilling the cabinet. 

Acting as an external filter the BHC Honeycomb Media attracts the dust and paper fines and will keep the enclosure clean avoiding both evaporator failure and minimising the risk of fire.

During a recent failure the replacement cost was over £2,000.00 and also shut down the production line. 

Yet it could have been avoided with a simple £65.00 high flow, low resistance filter which can be removed and cleaned before refitting.It may not be superhero stuff but we were pleased that another problem has been solved by an air intake filter screen from RAB Specialist Engineers.