Field Notes from RCS
The audio edition of Field Notes from RCS. Each episode takes one published Field Notes article on corrosion control and cathodic protection and walks through it the way Mike would in a classroom or a truck cab: the field moment behind it, why it says what it says, and the takeaways. About twenty minutes an episode. Written and told by Mike Roberts of Roberts Corrosion Services. The full write-ups, with the figures, are at newsletter.rcswv.com.
Article 0079 — The Panhandle Eastern Casing Test: Same Reading, Different Answer
Article 0079: The Panhandle Eastern Casing Test: Same Reading, Different Answer. A casing that reads the same as the pipe is not a shorted casing. It's a casing that needs a second test.
In this episode: why this one came back, a rework of one of the oldest and most-read Field Notes articles · five cased crossings, and the one where the pipe and the casing read the same · the three conditions: clear, metallic short and electrolytic couple · why the pipe inside a dry casing gets no cathodic protection · how current gets through a wet casing, and why you can...
Unplugged No. 1 — This One's for Levi
Unplugged No. 1: This One's for Levi. No studio, no voice polish. Just Mike, a laptop and a microphone.
In this episode: a coworker's first reaction, "Is that even your voice?", and why it led to an unplugged episode · why Field Notes exists in the first place: being better known, LinkedIn, and moving to our own site · the motto, to provide something useful, and the knowledge walking out the door · how the old Listen Online button turned into a podcast · why talking about an article works better than reading it · how the regular episodes are made: dictation, a scrip...
Article 0069 — CP Shielding: When the Coating Protects the Corrosion
Article 0069: CP Shielding: When the Coating Protects the Corrosion. How a disbonded coating can wall off the very steel it was meant to protect, while your readings still say protected.
In this episode: a foreign-line crossing exposes your pipe, and the tape peels back on active corrosion · how an off-potential can pass while the steel a few inches away is losing metal · how a good coating's dielectric strength becomes a shield once it disbonds · why DCVG, ACVG, coupons and close interval surveys usually can't see it until the coating breaks open · what does find it: direct examination, in-l...
Article 0068 — Oxidation Does Not Mean Oxygen
Article 0068: Oxidation Does Not Mean Oxygen. Where OIL RIG came from, why the names mislead, and the trap that catches good techs.
In this episode: the question behind the article, asked in a hotel room while writing training material (why does "reduction" mean gain?) · how a chemist with a scale named oxidation, and how the men running furnaces named reduction long before anyone knew the electron existed · why steel corrodes just fine with no oxygen at all, and why oxygen still sets the pace in most ground · why wet ground is usually oxygen-starved ground · anode and...
Article 0075 — MIC: A Positive Vial Is Not a Diagnosis
Article 0075: MIC: A Positive Vial Is Not a Diagnosis. A positive bacteria test tells you there's bacteria. It doesn't tell you what's eating the pipe.
In this episode: the picture at the top of the article and why sterile sample bottles are a rule, not a preference · the colleague's question that started it ("when do you call it MIC?") and the one-page reference RCS built to answer it · the three conditions the standards actually require before MIC is the cause — elevated organisms compared to clean pipe, chemistry that agrees, and biology as the primary contributor · what...
Article 0078 — The First Tap is Misleading
Article 0078: The First Tap is Misleading. A new rectifier gets dialed in, not cranked up.
In this episode: a ground bed we had just put in read six ohms on the first tap, and it wasn't the bed · we go through commissioning a tap-type rectifier step by step — pick the locations to watch, take a baseline, take the back EMF out of the resistance number, step the taps up while you read the line, and set it where the worst spot is protected and the spot next to the bed isn't overdone · the one takeaway: don...
