Initialize running hours and set due hours
Two very common maintenance tasks are tracking running hours for key components, such as engines, and performing hours-based maintenance routines on these components. In Helm CONNECT, you can use maintenance templates to manage both of these important tasks. Building your templates and getting them ready for your crew to use is a multi-step process:
- Add components to Helm CONNECT.
- Build and publish maintenance templates to track running hours for key components.
- Build and publish maintenance templates for hours-based maintenance routines for those same key components.
- Record the initial running hours in the running hours checklists in Onboard > Logs. See Initialize component running hours below.
- Adjust the due hours in any hours-based maintenance templates for the tracked components so they are due in the correct number of hours. See Set due hours below.
This article focuses on steps 4 and 5 and assumes that you've already added components to the system (step 1) and built and published your running hour and hours-based maintenance templates (steps 2 and 3). For more about adding components, check this lesson. For more about building maintenance routine templates, check out this lesson.
Initialize component running hours
When you first create a component, Helm CONNECT assumes its running hours start at zero. Since this value is unlikely to be zero, you must enter the correct value the first time you complete the running hours checklist for that component.
To initialize running hours
- Go to Onboard > Logs and complete the running hours checklist(s) for the required component(s) for the first time. In this example, let's say you enter the total running hours for the port main engine component as 1200.
Important noteWhen you do this, make sure you enter the component's current running hours into the Total hours fields and NOT the Add hours field.
- Click Finish Now to complete the checklist. This will add the current running hours into Helm CONNECT.
Set due hours
After you set the running hours for a component, you need to adjust the due hours in the related hours-based template.
In this example, there is a 500-hour port main engine maintenance routine checklist. As soon as you finish the running hours checklist for the port main engine, you will see in the Onboard > Logs > To Do list that the 500 hour checklist appears to be overdue. This is because you recorded 1200 in the running hours checklist and Helm CONNECT thinks the 500 Hour Port Main Engine Maintenance checklist is overdue by 700 hours, when it should actually be due in 300 hours, at the 1500 hour interval.
To set due hours correctly
- Go to Setup > Templates > Maintenance and click the hours-based maintenance template for the component you just recorded the running hours for, in this case, the 500-hour port main engine maintenance routine template.
Note Do not click Edit on the template.
- In the template header, click the Due (hours) field then, in the Set due hours window, type the actual number of hours until the maintenance template is due.
Note In this example, since you entered 1200 as the current running hours and the next interval of this checklist is due at 1500 hours, you would enter the difference in the Due (hours) field, which is 300.
- Click Set due hours.
- View the hours-based maintenance checklist in Onboard > Logs; it now shows the correct number of hours until it's due.
- If you have more than one hours-based maintenance template for a component, you'll need to set the correct due hours on each one.
Troubleshooting
If you make a mistake when entering running hours in the checklist in the Onboard > Logs > To Do list at any time, don't use Correct History; it will not fix the actual running hours in the system. Use the following procedure instead.
To fix a mistake entering running hours
- Complete another copy of the running hours checklist immediately and enter the correct running hours value in the Total hours field.
- In the Finish this checklist? window, select No period, then click Finish Now.
This will reset the running hours for the component to the correct value without affecting the running hours checklist schedule.
Important
Entering incorrect data into a running hours checklist can potentially trigger an hours-based maintenance checklist at the wrong time. If you correct the running hours using the above method before an hours-based maintenance checklist is completed, the checklist will be due as intended. However, someone could complete an hours-based maintenance checklist first and then correct the component running hours later. If that occurs, the due hours in the hours-based maintenance template(s) for the affected component(s) will be incorrect. You'll need to edit the due hours in the hours-based checklist template(s) for any affected component(s) as shown in Set due hours above.