// BONUS ONLINE-ONLY COVERAGE // ICEMAKER’S CORNER
Good monitoring equals good curling
Ice technicians maintain
quality using thermographic tools and techniques
benefits apply even when IR tools are focused on the floor itself – especially when the floor is made of ice. “Tere aren’t many secrets to good curling ice,” says Shawn Olesen, ice
I
technician for the United States Curling Association (USCA), the national governing body of the sport of curling in the United States. “It just takes time and attention to detail.” Curling is catching on more and more in the United States, with played in
more 165 clubs in approximately 40 states, with approximately 16,000 curl- ers registered with the USCA. Olesen is part of a team of USCA ice techni- cians whose goal is to maintain a playing surface that enables the athletes to be able to call any shot they need to, from the beginning of the first game to the last shot of the Championships. Specific playing surface conditions are usually set out as recommendations or expectations from the World Curling Federation. “In the case of a National Championship, we begin with an advance site
visit,” Olesen says. “We check the facility and look at their plant, air han- dling system, dehumidification capabilities, and water quality. We ask that when we arrive for the competition that the ice surface be within 0.5 inch of level, which is checked by our team upon arrival via a laser transit.” Tis is followed by applying and properly sealing game markings and decorations with up to 30 coats of fine water spray mists, flooding the ice multiple times to further level the ice surface, and perfecting the surface for game play by pebbling and scraping the ice. “Pebbling is done by sprinkling water evenly across the sheet, leav-
ing small individual drops to freeze on the ice surface,” Olesen continues. “Once the pebble freezes, we shave the ice surface several times to fill any low spots while cutting off the high spots, and then apply ‘game pebble’ which is perfectly pure water applied in small singular drops as a surface for the 42-pound granite curling stones to travel on. A base coat is applied at or near room temperature, followed with a hot coarser top coat. Tis way the finer pebble is there waiting if the coarser pebble should wear away.” At a national event, the surface installation crew can number from 12-20
people; once the competition starts, a crew of 4-6 is adequate for mainte- nance. “We monitor conditions constantly, using remote sensors to watch
34
usacurl.org ))
nfrared (IR) thermography is a familiar condition monitoring ap- proach on the plant floor, enabling crews to detect equipment flaws quickly and non-invasively under operating conditions. Te same
An icemaker’s work is never done.
ice temp, air temp, humidity, dew point, and brine temp. When the tourna- ment is over every team usually finds us before they leave and thanks us, and if they didn’t win they let us know what we could have done better! In fairness, they are usually faster with their thanks and compliments” Olesen and crew monitor conditions with hand held equipment, using a
Fluke Ti32 Infrared Camera for their initial assessment of the space and for spot checks. “Termography is an extremely helpful tool because if we are
Continued on next page
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38