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GE Power

POWER SERVICES ENGINEERING

PRODUCT SERVICE

TIL 2024
09 JANUARY 2017
Compliance Category A
Timing Code - 2

TECHNICAL INFORMATION LETTER

F-CLASS S1B CONTAMINATION
APPLICATION
Select 7F and 9F gas turbines.

PURPOSE
Advise users to return sets of spare S1Bs to a GE Service Center, and to perform routine inspections at a maintenance
interval based on installed components.
Compliance Category
M - Maintenance

Identifies maintenance guidelines or best practices for reliable equipment

operation.

C - Compliance Required

Identifies the need for action to correct a condition that, if left uncorrected,
may result in reduced equipment reliability or efficiency. Compliance may be
required within a specific operating time.

A - Alert

Failure to comply with the TIL could result in equipment damage or facility
damage. Compliance is mandated within a specific operating time.

S Safety

Failure to comply with this TIL could result in personal injury. Compliance is
mandated within a specific operating time.

Timing Code
1

Prior to Unit Startup / Prior to Continued Operation (forced outage condition)

At First Opportunity (next shutdown)

Prior to Operation of Affected System

At First Exposure of Component

At Scheduled Component Part Repair or Replacement

Next Scheduled Outage

2017 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation
of the plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any
responsibility for liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as
result of applying this information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or
is in other respects responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information.
This Technical Information Letter contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that
customer in the installation, testing, operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed
in whole or in part nor shall its contents be disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights
reserved.

TIL 2024

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION
The first stage bucket (S1B) has numerous internal cooling passages that are configured to cool the component by
distributing air throughout the bucket. Blockage of these internal passages can lead to reduced cooling in regions of
the bucket. If the bucket is not effectively cooled, distress can result.
There have been some instances of internal cooling passage contamination that have resulted in bucket distress. When
observed early in the service interval, the distress can be identified and the affected buckets replaced before a
liberation event occurs. Refer to Figures 1 & 2 for examples of what can be observed during the inspections.
In a GE Bucket Repair shop from 2015 to October 2016, contamination was introduced to the internal serpentine
cooling passages of stage 1 buckets during repairs. This contamination was first found at a customer site just prior to
installation, when powder was observed coming out of the bucket cooling holes as the parts were removed from their
shipping container at site. The units affected by this TIL are part of the population of contaminated bucket sets that
were shipped prior to being cleared of contamination. The uninstalled sets need to be returned to a GE Service Center
for cleaning and inspection. The installed sets need to be monitored by borescope to look for signs of airfoil
degradation.

Figure 1: Airfoil Cracking and Oxidation Distress

Depending on where the contamination accumulates within the serpentine passages, different types of airfoil distress
can result. Figure 1 illustrates examples where the trailing edge cooling holes received reduced cooling air from
contamination. Figure 2 illustrates examples where contamination accumulated near the tip cap of the bucket, leading
to tip cap distress, tip cap loss, and potentially airfoil oxidation as well. Each of these forms of distress can be observed
by borescope.

Figure 2: Tip Cap Loss and Leading Edge Distress

2017 General Electric Company

This Technical Information Letter contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that
customer in the installation, testing, operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed
in whole or in part nor shall its contents be disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights
reserved.
Page 2 of 4

TIL 2024

RECOMMENDATIONS
For sets of S1Bs that are not installed, return them to a GE Service Center for cleaning and inspection. This inspection
will take approximately five days.
For sets of S1Bs that have already been installed, GE recommends the following borescope inspection intervals to
detect early stages of component distress.
Inspect every 2000 hours for units with S1Bs that have not reached 8000 hours of operation.
Inspect every 4000 hours for units with S1Bs that have completed 8000 hours of operation.
The inspection should focus on determining if any airfoil cracks are present as well as identifying if any individual
buckets exhibit significantly different coloration from the rest of the set. If indications are found, an additional
borescope inspection of downstream hardware is required. Inspection results must be submitted for dispositioning in a
ServiceNow Engineering Request (ER) case to determine the risk of continued operation. The ER case will facilitate
disposition, documentation and reporting with your local Power Services representative.
At the next exposure of the first stage buckets, the set should be removed and sent to a qualified GE Service Center for
inspection.
The Moment Weigh Chart Number, and the Shop Job Number, have the same last 5 digits.
Moment Weight Chart Number
40242

38378

41607

37587

37442

48048

36428

39919

44099

37779

37490

39923

43469

30046

41218

43464

41824

44846

41974

43948

45546

44453

45477

48011

46427

41831

44854

40823

47161

49855

50572

29219

50541

50574

29218

49807

49575

44235

50701

50567

41211

47663

46304

44263

50564

37310

25895

41225

35041

30046

51105

43133

41824

40597

37590

43948

41218

38773

2017 General Electric Company

This Technical Information Letter contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that
customer in the installation, testing, operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed
in whole or in part nor shall its contents be disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights
reserved.
Page 3 of 4

TIL 2024

PLANNING INFORMATION
Compliance

Compliance Category: A
Timing Code: 2

Manpower Skills
Borescope specialist; Bucket Technician; GE Service Center X-ray and/or Fiber Optic Borescope.
Parts
At the time of publication of this TIL, the availability of replacement first stage buckets is limited. New parts in stock will
be used to replace buckets found with contamination. For assistance or additional information, please contact your GE
Power Services representative.
Special Tooling
Borescope
Reference Document
This document compliments TIL 1468-R1
Scope of Work
BI conducted by GE LES, of all 92 S1B airfoils, both pressure side and suction sides of the airfoil, 100%. Total time to BI
all 92 stage 1 buckets, once the wheel space temperatures are cool enough to begin the inspection, should be one shift,
8 to 12 hours depending on lift oil LOTO and site coordination. These durations are estimates only.

TIL DISPOSITION
Disposition of TILs should be entered in local records and also in GE Power ServiceNow. Follow the below instructions for
entering the disposition record;

Log into the Power ServiceNow at https://gepowerpac.service-now.com/til_new/ using your GE SSO number
and password.
Select "TIL Disposition".
Click on the TIL for the serial number you want to update.
Choose the most appropriate Disposition Status and enter Disposition Notes.
Click "Save".

Contact your local GE service representative for assistance or for additional information.

2017 General Electric Company

This Technical Information Letter contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that
customer in the installation, testing, operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed
in whole or in part nor shall its contents be disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights
reserved.
Page 4 of 4