Drilling Rig Repair

Nothing special about this... just a very fun little project.

The California Oil Museum is housed in an 1890 Victorian-Queen Anne office building in downtown Santa Paula, CA. The building once served as the headquarters for Union Oil; now it features several exhibits explaining what oil is and how it is extracted.

One of these exhibits is a working model of a rotary drilling rig. It had stopped working and we were called in to troubleshoot...

Problems

• When the 'Start' button for the exhibit is pressed, nothing happens.

Solutions

• Read available documentation to figure out what the heck the thing was supposed to do...
• Replaced the 12 VDC 'draw works' motor.
• Repaired the 'lower' limit photo-electric switch.
  • Required a magnet be glued to the bottom of the drill bit!
• Adjusted the 'upper' limit proximity switch.
• Soldered several wires connecting the 12 VDC light fixtures.
• Replaced part of the circuit board with an external relay to control the Up/Down motor change-of-direction.
• Replaced part of the circuit board with a potentiometer to control the Down speed.
• Provided detailed electrical drawings including:
  • Interconnection drawings
  • Motor control drawings

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Details

Client: California Oil Museum
Location: Santa Paula, CA
Sponsored by: Seneca Resources

Results

When the 'Start' button is pressed...

• The rig lights and subterranean lights come on.
• The drill bit starts rotating.
• The drill bit lowers into the hole.

When the drill bit reaches the bottom...

• The drill bit stops rotating.
• The rig lights go off, but the subterranean lights stay on.
• The drill bit rises out of the hole.

When the drill bit reaches the top...

• The drill bit stops moving.
• The subterranean lights go off.