Director Zhao gave the final approval, and the emergency repair team worked through the night to revise the plan thoroughly. The factory administration and the chief engineer also approved it. The next morning, the workshop specially cleared the area around the grinding machine and hung a wooden sign that read "Equipment under emergency repair, no unauthorized personnel allowed." Even the air felt tense.
At nine o'clock sharp, Master Wang, Liu Li, Fu Jingchen, and the rest of the machine repair team gathered in front of the grinding machine. Master Wang stood at the front, his white hair strikingly visible, clutching an old cotton yarn in his hand, his eyes deep and serious: "Today we're 'opening up' this foreign thing. Keep your hands steady, your eyes sharp, and don't panic! Follow the plan, don't rush, don't act recklessly! Liu Li will lead the disassembly and measurement, Fu will record the data, the machine repair team will assist, and I'll oversee things. Got it?"
"Understood!" the group responded in unison, their voices echoing loudly in the empty area.
After disconnecting the power and hanging up the tag to confirm safety, the mechanic removed the outer protective cover and pipelines. Once the transmission system was exposed, the dense array of gears and shafts was dizzying to look at, and the smell of engine oil mixed with the smell of metal was so strong that it made one's nose sting.
When they reached the crucial transmission section—the set of gears that Liu Li and Fu Jingchen suspected had a problem—the structure was very tight, and the bolts were all special types. Master Wang nodded to Liu Li: "Let's begin."
Liu Li took a deep breath, studied the blueprint for half a minute, and ran her finger across the gears, mentally reviewing the order of disassembly before picking up the wrench. She didn't rush to apply force; she first gently tightened it half a turn, checking the bolt's tightness before applying even pressure. Each bolt was removed and held in place by a magnetic chuck on a tray lined with cotton yarn, ensuring none were out of order.
When she came to a difficult bolt in the corner, the space was too small, so she didn't try to pry it open. Instead, she asked the mechanic to hand her an extension rod and a universal joint. After assembling them, she slowly reached in to tighten it, without making a single harsh scraping sound. Fu Jingchen was standing next to her, taking notes in his notebook. He clearly marked which bolts were difficult to loosen and where oil was seeping out.
With all the bolts on the box lid removed, the most crucial moment arrived—the lid had to be lowered. Liu Li and the mechanic each grabbed a hand-operated hoist, hooking it onto the lifting hole in the lid. Master Wang personally checked the hooks to ensure they were secure before shouting, "Lift!"
The two of them cranked the gourd in unison, the sealant between the lid and the box making a "sizzling" sound as the gap gradually widened. Liu Li kept her eyes fixed on the gap, not daring to move too fast, afraid that unevenness would deform the lid. Once it was hoisted to a height where it could be moved, she carefully moved the lid onto the wooden frame next to her, as lightly as if placing tofu on it.
The publicity officer quickly came over to take pictures, shooting from every angle to keep as records. Liu Li didn't wait, picked up a high-powered flashlight and shone it inside the transmission box to check how well the gears meshed, muttering, "The gear surfaces look okay, I don't see any chips or worn areas."
Fu Jingchen had already prepared the dial indicator, attaching it to the reference surface of the gearbox, with the pointer gently pressing against the journal of the high-speed gear shaft. "Try turning it around," Liu Li said to the mechanic.
The mechanic slowly turned the pulley, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the dial indicator—the pointer wobbled slightly, but Liu Li frowned: "The axial runout is about 0.01 to 0.015 millimeters, which is a bit too much." This number may seem small, but for a gear that rotates more than three thousand times per minute, it's enough to cause significant wobbling.
The gear assembly still needed to be disassembled. Liu Li replaced the copper pry bar and plastic hammer, afraid of damaging the parts. When removing the locking nut, she used a calibrated torque wrench and noted the initial force; when removing the positioning sleeve, she didn't pull hard, but used a puller to slowly tug, removing the sleeve little by little.
Once the pair of helical gears were finally removed from the shaft, Liu Li held her breath and gently placed them on the workbench covered with high-grade cleaning paper—paper that was usually reserved for cleaning precision parts. She and Fu Jingchen quickly took out a magnifying glass and a dial indicator to measure the gears. Fu Jingchen recorded the data, while Liu Li slowly turned the gears to observe the changes in the dial indicator's needle at different positions.
While the other machines in the workshop were still running, the repair area was very quiet, with only the soft tapping of tools and the scratching of writing. Master Wang stood beside her, his eyes never leaving Liu Li's hands. Watching her steady, old-craftsman-like movements and her focused gaze as she stared at the dial indicator, his last bit of worry disappeared—this apprentice was truly capable of handling things.
Dismantling this foreign equipment was like walking on thin ice; one wrong step and everything would be ruined. But Liu Li took each step steadily, getting closer and closer to finding the problem.
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