Guide to Testing and Troubleshooting Ship Alarm Monitoring Systems

The purpose of the Ship alarm monitoring system is to continuously monitor and show the alarms of the vessel’s main systems. It displays the connected systems’ current state in real time, including the steering and engine. Because serial communication is used, the AMS application has several links to external systems. The ship alarm monitoring systems are one of the most crucial components in a ship because they give signals to the crew immediately as soon as an incident occurs saving precious lives of the crew members in the ship. For the system to function smoothly, every marine spare parts supplier suggests monitoring and troubleshooting the alarm monitoring systems from time to time.

Faults in Alarm Monitoring and Control System

The ship’s alarm monitoring and control system may produce inaccurate data outputs and false alerts and marine monitoring system fix should be done. These issues could be general to the engine room or specific to a particular area of engine functioning. Some possible faults are: 

• Cable Fault: Damage to the cable that connects the sensors to the control room might end up in short circuits or open circuits that could cause false alarms.
• Control card/panel fault: The alarms might be assembled together in a particular monitoring or alarm panel, and this panel might have a fault.
• External interference: It is possible that machinery running in the suspect area, which is not well screened, could cause interruption that is sent to the monitoring panels through the instrument cables.

The main supply to the alarm and monitoring panel would be examined for the following when the alarms are universal to the whole engine room when considering ship alarm repair:

• Earth faults: A number of earth faults may have an impact on the earth potential and, consequently, the instrument display.
• Level of supply voltage: The low 24V supply used by the monitoring circuit must be at the proper level and free of voltage fluctuation.

Troubleshooting Alarm Monitoring and Control System

By looking at the 24V distribution panel, which would have an earth detection unit installed, the earth fault might be located. If this panel showed an earth fault, then

• Disconnecting the supply fuses to various areas of the engine room would allow you to trace a positive earth and locate the trouble spot.
• Each instrument’s earth wire would need to be disconnected in order to create a negative earth, and it would remain detached until the defect is identified. This could only be done when monitoring responsibilities were in progress and would result in the loss of several of the instruments in the engine room. To guarantee proper replacement, each wire would be labeled.
• An oscilloscope, which would display the voltage level and whether there was any supply ripple, might be used to detect the irregularity in the supply. Correct voltage levels would also be indicated by a basic AVO meter. Finding the cable or insulation fault and replacing it, or fixing the issue by re-insulating the damaged area, will fix the earth fault. The 24V DC supply’s charging unit and/or any faulty batteries would be replaced in order to correct the supply inconsistency.

Why Should You Choose Ship Automation?

With over ten years of experience in the marine automation industry, Ship Automation has developed expertise and experience in servicing, maintaining, repairing, and providing refurbished parts. Whether it’s shipping the parts or doing basic ship maintenance or overhaul, we have a stellar record for on-time delivery. When it comes to providing rare parts in the shortest amount of time, we are widely favored globally.