Maintenance at Fermilab

 Bob Mau
 Fermilab
 PO Box 500, MS306
 Batavia, Illinois 60510
 
 WAO'98 Poster Abstract
 
   In the early years, Fermilab scheduled weekly maintenance periods
   that included preventative maintenance.  In the mid 1980's we
   changed our maintenance style to what is lovingly referred to as
   "run it till she blows."  Is this operating style for you?  You
   must decide if it's better to perform maintenance on a regular
   basis, taking your chances that the machine recovers quickly, or
   attempt to maximize operating time by running the machine until a
   failure impedes progress, taking your chances that things don't
   decay to the point that it's disastrous when something does break. 
   We believe that if you are sufficiently organized and prepared you
   can react to failures on short notice, thereby taking advantage of
   the "running it till she blows" style.