Northern Centre live presentations back for new season.
The IRTE Northern Centre held its first CPD presentation since February 2020 at the Barton Manor hotel near Preston with 37 members and guests attending.
The Centre committee thought it was only fitting that the presentation that was due to be presented by MEI Brakes in March 2020 was the first in its new season of centre events.
David Jackson (Sales Manager) and Jonathan Jackson (MD/Technical) of MEI Brakes started their presentation by covering the basic components and principles of operation, first in a commercial vehicle drum brake set up and then an air disc (AED) brake.
The speakers then covered the workings and some of the individual components in more detail, starting with drum brakes, using an automatic slack adjuster.
Jonathan instructed the audience how to initially set up the slack adjuster and then how to maintain it to keep it functioning correctly, so that it gave maximum performance and a long service life.
The presentation then moved onto air disc brakes and the areas that are found to be causing potential problems with calliper failures, premature component wear, and poor performance.
David and Jonathan explained how to avoid the numerous bad maintenance practices and the errors that are present in the transport industry when installing, setting up and maintaining the AED brake assembly.
The MEI Brake representatives completed their presentation with a look at the possible future developments of commercial brake assemblies with the likelihood that smaller and lighter foundation brake components will be used and the possible introduction of electric motors for brake application.
An informative question and answer session completed the evening with those present in the audience putting across numerous scenarios and in-service issues to the speakers for their professional opinion and technical advice.
In the absence of the Hon. Chairman, the IRTE Northern Centre Hon. Vice Chairman Sam Archer thanked the speakers for attending the centre and giving their CPD presentation.
As a gesture of appreciation for their efforts the Northern Centre student and education officer Scott Howard then presented the MEI Brake representatives with an IRTE commemorative plaque as a memento of their visit.