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Stoker Drawings

Terry2124

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I got to see a couple of drawings and what to expect when going on a new ship.  The drawings of the systems were sketched out in a book. 

I am wondering, can I do this on the computer?  If so, what program will allow me to draw piping systems?  I understand the drawings are called P&ID?


Anyone have any info?
 
You will have to draw the systems by hand.  Some units use the books while others use 11x18 paper stored in a binder.  Since you are joining an establishment steeped in tradition, you will get to enjoy this painstaking exercise in attention to detail just as many stokers and members of the engineering department did before you.

I have seen drawings created through CAD programs but they were used for reference or as a rough draft to assist with layout.  Creating drawings with a program would result in cleaner and easier to follow diagrams but it is far too easy for someone to copy the drawings and call them their own.  Plagarism is thoroughly frowned upon and can result in administrative actions.

The idea is to research the system to understand how it works then trace out the pipes and draw a rough draft.  Then you get to redraw the system neat and clean.  Every drawing of the same system should look slightly different.  This allows each person to become familiar of how the system works and the location of critical components.  There may be times that you will have to quickly operate a valve under stressful conditions.  Most of the time poeple will find drawings and just copy them... not cool but it happens.  One of my drawings ended up on the Training PO's desk... it was photocopied and the name was changed.  The lesson to learn there is that you need to keep your drawings locked up. 

I haven't heard of the term "P&ID" before.  I know that one of the drawings is called PG&D which stands for Power Generation and Distribution.  It is one of the easier ones. 



I just discussed this issue with a few Stokers at the Naval Engineering School and
 
MeanJean said:
I just discussed this issue with a few Stokers at the Naval Engineering School and

And what? Don't leave us in suspense!! ;)

I remember coming across a set my father had made early in his career on one of the old steamers.
 
MeanJean said:
You will have to draw the systems by hand.  Some units use the books while others use 11x18 paper stored in a binder.  Since you are joining an establishment steeped in tradition, you will get to enjoy this painstaking exercise in attention to detail just as many stokers and members of the engineering department did before you.

I have seen drawings created through CAD programs but they were used for reference or as a rough draft to assist with layout.  Creating drawings with a program would result in cleaner and easier to follow diagrams but it is far too easy for someone to copy the drawings and call them their own.  Plagarism is thoroughly frowned upon and can result in administrative actions.

The idea is to research the system to understand how it works then trace out the pipes and draw a rough draft.  Then you get to redraw the system neat and clean.  Every drawing of the same system should look slightly different.  This allows each person to become familiar of how the system works and the location of critical components.  There may be times that you will have to quickly operate a valve under stressful conditions.  Most of the time poeple will find drawings and just copy them... not cool but it happens.  One of my drawings ended up on the Training PO's desk... it was photocopied and the name was changed.  The lesson to learn there is that you need to keep your drawings locked up. 

I haven't heard of the term "P&ID" before.  I know that one of the drawings is called PG&D which stands for Power Generation and Distribution.  It is one of the easier ones. 



I just discussed this issue with a few Stokers at the Naval Engineering School and

What he said, apart from leaving us hanging with his last sentence.

Do your self a favour. When starting a system sketch, don't rely on your mess mates drawing as a guide.  Chances are, it may be wrong.  So don't copy it.  Because when you're asked to reproduce it nice and neat on a whiteboard during a certification board or when your EOOW or Training PO asks cause he's interested in your professional development, you won't look like a plagiarizing idiot.

So get a flash light, a couple of pencils and drawing pad, get below the plates, and get sketchin'
 
P&ID = Piping and Instrumentation Drawings (Shows valves, pumps, and instrumention/control loops...

You should find P&ID drawings for the fuel system, the lube system, the cooling system, and the dom water system, plus associated storage for each system... just one of many drawings though...

Hand drawings are a good way to understand how systems work, but if you're just copying drawings, really, at best, you're getting *what* is installed, no\ *how* the system works... so if you've got the time, do your best to understand the *how* of what you're drawing. Understanding the *how* in addition to the *what* makes trouble shooting much easier, and working with unfamiliar systems much easier.

As an added bonus, as much as CAD has become the "standard" now, being able to produce neat hand drawings is never a wasted skill.
 
When I started as a stoker, if the A/CERA, EOOWs or Boiler room PO's failed to see you crawling everywhere in the machinery compartments paper pad and pencil in hand for two days in a row, or your Div PO did not see progress on your rough drawings to his satisfaction, you got your ass hauled in front of the CERA faster than you could say Kalamazoo.

Copying someone else is not really an option if you don't want to get caught being told to go and open/close a specific valve and have to admit not knowing where it is after you handed in your drawings.
 
I remember reviewing someone's drawings a few years ago where they had a flux capacitor in the switchboard.  Turns out they had copied it off someone else, who had dropped it on as a joke.  It was pretty funny watching them to explain what it's purpose was.  It was a good learning opportunity; their do over was much better.

All the drawings can be found in the various tech publications or system drawings; doing it on CAD misses the point.  The idea isn't that you can memorize a drawing, its to learn how a system works, so you recognize when things aren't configured like they are supposed to be, and can react to an emergency.  Also, you should be working on this at sea, and it's hard to drag a laptop down to the engine room.

It's old school, but effective.  Also, during your board, there are still a lot of people that will start asking questions like 'where is that valve?' and not knowing will generally be an automatic fail.
 
Sometimes you'll find valves not on the original drawings...
 
Damn it, a Sig Op, you're not supposed to tell where the valve to the "Omega 13" is.  ... Oooops!
 
I understand I will be be drawing by hand, I will need to do so before a board as well for my mod.


What I am asking if anyone know of a computer program which is used for such drawings?


Thanks for the above responses. 
 
You will also have to hand in a drawing package for review, which will have to be done by hand.

If you want to do another set of drawings on top of that, MS Visio actually isn't a bad program, and has the various valves and other common symbols built in, and you can quite easily make most other symbols.

I was able to use it to quite easily make good system drawings while I was at the school for teaching purposes, and you can export them to a number of easy to use formats.  I'm sure there are other good programs as well; GiMP with some custom shapes would be an option as well, and is just as good as photoshop for image editing.  There may be some premade, but it's not too hard to make your own as well.
 
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