How To - Updating of Running Hours For Sub-Components Works in TM Master

Some of your components, due to their complexity and size, may be organized in several different sub groups and contain hundreds of smaller bits and pieces. A good example for such a component is a vessel's main engine. (An example is shown in the image blow). Here you have the main engine group: 651.01, and a whole range of sub groups: cylinder covers, cylinder lines, fuel feed pumps etc. When the main engine is running, all sub components are also running and should receive running hours.

Updating the running hours for all these components manually would be a very time consuming task. So to make it a bit more manageable, when hours are added to a component in the running hour list, all of the sub components are, by default, also updated with the same amount of hours.

In our main engine example, only the component 651.01 needs to be added to the running hour list, and once you add hours to it all the cylinder covers, cylinder lines, and fuel feed pumps etc. which are contained within the structure of “651.01 Main Engine No 1”, will receive the same amount of hours. Components may have different starting points in time in regards of hours used. Some sub-components may have been replaced with new ones. The new ones will of course have 0 running hours at the time the component is installed, and then start to accumulate hours from its parent component. So how does the system keep track of all the sub-component's hours when, in theory at least, all could have been installed at different points in time? The answer to this is simple:

When updating a parent components hours, for example, from 1200 to 1400 hours. This will not set the running hour value for sub components to 1400 as was set on to the parent. The sub-component are updated with only the “difference” between the parents previous value and the new one, so in this case they will be updated with “+200” hours.

An example of a running hour update. Here the new counter value of 1400 hours is added to the 651.01 Main Engine No1. The sub components are updated with the difference between the old and new value.

So, what if one of the sub components and its sub components have a separate hour counter, and should not follow the parent component? The answer to this is also simple. Just add the sub component, with the separate counter, to the running hour list as a separate component. Any component included in the running hour list will not receive any updates from any of its parents. The components in the running hour list expect to be directly updated. Sub components that are not in the running hour list will only receive updates from its nearest parent component.

This is an example of a sub component of a running hour receiving component, with its own counter. 100 hours are added to 651.01 all sub components receive +100 hours except the one with its own counter 651.01.26. In this example I have added 150 hours on the sub component (651.01.26), and its sub components are updated with +150 hours

The Running hour master functions.

In some cases there is a need to configure components that are not part of the hour receiving components structure (system) to also receive the hour updates. This can be due to a different component structure philosophy than described earlier or that you do have components from other systems that should receive running hours based upon another system’s component usage.

This is made possible in TM Master v2 by using the “Running hour Master” function.

To configure a component, that is not a part of the running hour receiving component structure (system) do the following:

1. Click [Inventory] -> [Components] -> double click the component you wish to add the running hour counter list -> Click the “Running hours” tab.
2. Click the […] button in the field called “Running hour master”
3. Select the running hour receiving component it should get it updates from. (Please note only components already in the running hour list are listed)

Any running hours added to the selected “Master” will now also be added to this component and its sub components. Components with a running hour master will not receive any hours from any of its parents (if any of their parents receives hours), only its master.

Keeping track of which component is following which master is not easy, and can be time consuming, if you had to open each individual component to check. This is why components that have a running hour master, is also listed in the running hour list. Any component in the running hour list that has a [+] sign in front of the component name has a running hour “slave”. Click the [+] to show them. (ref. image below)

The running hours view, showing some components that have been configured as running hour masters and their “slaves”.