ACtion Magazine - May 2017 - 8

WCX17
Steve Schaeber

ast month I traveled to the Motor City to attend what used to literally hundreds of presentations being given by hundreds of
be known as SAE World Congress, but which is now called participants over three days, plus the trade show events and ancillary
WCX, or "World Congress Experience". It's an annual event meetings that take place before and after, making it difficult to choose
held in downtown Detroit's Cobo Center, a large convention center which ones you want to attend. But SAE does a good job of breakcomplex along the Detroit River and right down the road from the ing it down into 7 technology tracks (Body/Chassis/Safety/Structure,
GMRENCEN, General Motor's headquarters at the Renaissance Electronics, Emissions/Environment/Sustainability, Integrated DeCenter. From the main floor, you can look out of floor-to-ceiling sign & Manufacturing, Management/Marketplace, Materials, and
windows which overlook the river towards
Propulsion/Powertrain), which are
Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Nice view!
then further broken down into the
WCX17 is an industry-to-industry trade
...there are literally hundreds various work sessions.
show as well as a conference where engiWalking down one of the BCSS
of presentations being given by hallways, I peeked into a classroom
neers, designers, and other automotive professionals gather to "present papers" that
hundreds of participants and saw a lecture on steering and susthey've researched and written about autopension technology called "Reducmotive engineering concepts, projects, tests
tion of Steering Effort in the Event of
and ideas that vary widely across every aspect of the automobile that Electronic Power Assisted Steering Failure using Differential Braking
you could imagine. The purpose of the sessions is to engage partici- Assisted Steering." The title sounds like a mouthful, but basically the
pants in an open exchange of ideas to further the industry as a whole. presentation was about safety issues that arise when EPS systems fail,
At first glance the entire event is a little daunting. There are and it becomes much harder for the driver to turn the steering wheel.
Mobile A/C topics were part of "Emissions/Environment/Sustainability," which were categorized as Climate Control, Energy Efficiency of Thermal Systems, Thermal System Components, Thermal
Systems Modeling & Simulation, and Thermal Systems for Hybrid
& Electric Vehicles. Of the 18 sessions I would like to have seen,
®
there was only time for one: "Efficient Heat Pump System for PHEV/
Service most mobile AC systems with a Schrader Universal AC Valve which
use HNBR seals to provide the broadest compatibility with refrigerants and oils.
BEV," presented by DENSO and Toyota. It was basically a more indepth version of the class taught by Bruce Biven at MACS 2017, and
more on that can be found in an upcoming MACS Service Report.
I also walked the trade show, checked out the vendor displays,
and even got some cool video of a robot that was driving itself
around the aisles (check it out on MACS' YouTube channel at
https://goo.gl/vdnpk7). In the center of the show floor was the
"Tech Hub," where I caught most of a lecture by Don Christian
of Divergent 3D titled, "Lessons Learned in an Electric Vehicle
Race Around the World - 80eDays." His captivating presentation
described border crossings, recharging challenges, and friends
they met along their 18,000-mile journey. I'm looking forward
to the DVD!
There was also a meeting of the ICCSC (Interior Climate ConWorking
Installation
trol
Standards Committee) in which MACS participates. Topics
Pressure Temp Range
Torque
Surface
Part No.
PSIG
°F
IN.-LBS
Valve Type
Finish
discussed
include small cans of R-1234yf, further development
8081070047 40 - 800
-10 to 300
3-5
Standard
Plated
of
R-744
standards,
along with the creation of a new standard fo8081540070 800 max.
-40 to 245
5-10
JRA
Unplated
cused
on
plastic
A/C
liquid lines (more about these on the MACS
0200822001 800 max.
-40 to 300
10-20
8mm
Unplated
0200842001 800 max.
-40 to 300
15-30
10mm
Unplated
Wordpress Blog https://goo.gl/ycq26L). ❆

UNIVERSAL AC Valves

7142820093

600 max.

-40 to 300

N/A

integrated (R-134a)

Aluminum

0123415001

600 max.

-40 to 300

N/A

integrated (HFO-1234yf)

Aluminum

Due to the variety of operating conditions or applications, the customer is responsible to perform their own testing
to insure performance, safety and warning requirements for the intended application.

800.288.1804 x8814
8

ACTION * May 2017

Steve Schaeber
Manager of Service Training
You can reach Steve at
steve@macsw.org

http://www.schraderinternational.com/region-selector https://www.goo.gl/vdnpk7 https://www.goo.gl/ycq26L

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - May 2017