Course Overview

Length: 15 hours live instruction

Demonstrations: ~75%

Hands-On: Optional equipment rental

Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with the I&C field suggested – but not required. This course is designed to accommodate beginners and starts at the basics to ensure a solid foundation.

Summary Description: This live online course develops students' understanding of industrial instrumentation and calibration fundamentals through high-definition demonstrations on our bench setup. Students watch real instrumentation systems being configured, calibrated, and troubleshot in real-time — including 4-20mA loops, SMART transmitters, HART communications, and common sensors. Interactive Q&A throughout each session ensures concepts are clear, while optional equipment rental enables hands-on practice at the student's location.

Detailed Description

Using high-definition cameras on our demonstration bench, students will observe real instrumentation systems being configured, calibrated, and troubleshot in real-time. The instructor will work with 4-20mA loops, SMART transmitters, various sensors, and calibration equipment while posing questions and challenges before demonstrating outcomes.

This course develops a fundamental understanding of the concepts required to understand and successfully maintain, calibrate, and troubleshoot common sensors, instrumentation, transmitters, and measurement systems.

This is NOT the typical "death by PowerPoint" online training – this is real, truly engaging instruction where you'll watch actual equipment being tested, configured, and troubleshot live. It's practical, engaging, and effective.

The topics presented are based on decades of expert observations of the problems and mistakes made throughout the instrumentation and controls fields. This course places heavy emphasis on the topics that are often missed in other training programs and are usually misunderstood in industry so that technicians can overcome the common mistakes and problems that plague the instrumentation field.

This course is useful for anyone from a mechanical technician or plant operator up to senior instrumentation technicians and engineers needing to better understand the instrumentation associated with their systems.

Hands-On Equipment Rental

For students who want the full hands-on experience, we offer professional training equipment rental that ships directly to your location. This includes the same components used in our demonstrations.

• Build the same labs from class at your own pace
• Access additional exercises that go beyond what is covered in the course
• Equipment can be shared among team members to reduce costs
• Various rental terms and options available

[PLACEHOLDER LINK: Equipment Rental Details and Booking]

Learning Portal Access

All students gain access to our comprehensive online learning portal (30-day access included with registration). In the portal you will find:

• Course session recordings for review
• Supplemental video demonstrations of key concepts
• Step-by-step tutorials
• Interactive troubleshooting simulations with built-in mentoring and guidance
• Practice questions & answers
• Tips & tricks articles
• Troubleshooting aids, forms, and checklists

Our innovative instrumentation troubleshooting simulator allows students to practice realistic troubleshooting scenarios with immediate feedback on their methodology and decision-making. Learning portal subscriptions are renewable for a small fee if desired.

[PLACEHOLDER LINK: Learning Portal Details]

Course Outcomes:

• Understand 4-20mA loop fundamentals and effectively troubleshoot analog I/O problems.
• Understand SMART transmitter operation and configuration, avoiding common mistakes.
• Properly use process meters, calibrators, and HART communicators.
• Understand calibration concepts including accuracy, repeatability, and proper documentation.
• Recognize common failure modes in temperature, pressure, level, and flow instruments.
• Understand the importance of signal filtering (damping) and its impact on safety and control.
• Be able to read and interpret loop diagrams and P&IDs.
• Diagnose instrumentation noise issues and understand proper grounding.
• Understand DP-based measurements for level and flow applications.
• Recognize calibration program requirements and best practices.
• Apply systematic troubleshooting methods to instrumentation problems.
• Understand the differences between analog and SMART instrumentation maintenance.

Key Demonstrations Include:

• Building and testing 4-20mA loops (showing current flow, voltage drops)
• SMART transmitter configuration walkthrough (live menu navigation)
• Demonstrating signal noise problems and solutions
• RTD and thermocouple testing with common failures
• Pressure transmitter calibration from start to finish
• Showing impact of damping settings on control systems
• Loop troubleshooting scenarios with hidden faults
• HART communicator operations and diagnostics
• Zero suppression/elevation setup for level measurement
• Calibration tolerance calculations and pass/fail decisions
• Common wiring mistakes and how to find them
• Process calibrator functions and proper usage

Course Agenda:

• Industrial Instrumentation Overview and 4-20mA control loops
• Measurement fundamentals: accuracy, precision, calibration standards
• Analog loop operation, testing, and troubleshooting techniques
• SMART transmitters: configuration, diagnostics, and HART basics
• Temperature measurement with RTDs and thermocouples
• Pressure measurement principles and calibration procedures
• Level and flow measurements using differential pressure
• Proper calibration techniques and documentation requirements
• Signal noise, grounding issues, and systematic troubleshooting
• Reading and interpreting P&IDs and loop diagrams
• Common instrumentation failures and how to diagnose them
• Best practices for instrumentation maintenance programs

Each student attending will receive a certificate of completion upon finishing the course.

If you have any questions or would like information on training multiple personnel in the same organization or team, please email [email protected] or text/call Mike at (208) 715-1590.