Reports until 09:53, Thursday 31 October 2013
H1 INS (INS, SEI)
jim.warner@LIGO.ORG - posted 09:53, Thursday 31 October 2013 (8332)
Bad HEPI Parker Valve at ETMX

This morning while Hugh was working on ETMX HEPI actuator installs, I did some investigating on a problematic actuator on corner 3 (SE). This actuator was initially attached, but was found to pull the system down .020", about half of it's range, so it was detached. When the actuator was installed, it had shims added that held it in its nominal position, roughly the middle of its travel, and in this state its position sensor read 3300 cts (0 is center, ideally). When I pulled the shims with the pier valve in the run position, but the Parker valve (HEPI actuator valve) unplugged (to ensure no drive on the actuator) the actuator contracted until it railed the IPS (-32000 cts). When I closed the pier valve, the actuator moved back to -9500 (about .010") cts, which I think is probably a normal shift ( .005 is a normal shift when attaching, but the HEPI main springs are pulling the other direction at that point, not the case here). Pretty sure this means we need to replace the Parker valve.