I have 4 pieces of equipment that need to run one after the other. Two of them have to run at a maximum of 20 minutes each and be off a total of 90 minutes each. One of the remaining 2 peieces has to run at 15 minutes. No determined minutes off. How do I determine what the off time for this one is and the on and off time for the 4th peice of equipment?

Question

I have 4 pieces of equipment that need to run one after the other. Two of them have to run at a maximum of 20 minutes each and be off a total of 90 minutes each. One of the remaining 2 peieces has to run at 15 minutes. No determined minutes off. How do I determine what the off time for this one is and the on and off time for the 4th peice of equipment?

Answer 1

To determine the off time for the third piece of equipment and the on and off times for the fourth piece of equipment, we need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Calculate the total available time for the two pieces of equipment that need to be off for 90 minutes each.
- If each of these two equipment runs for a maximum of 20 minutes, then the total time they need to be off is 2 * 90 = 180 minutes.

Step 2: Calculate the remaining time available after accounting for the time the first two pieces of equipment need to be off.
- If there are 60 minutes in an hour, then in 180 minutes, we have 180/60 = 3 hours.

Step 3: Determine the off time for the third piece of equipment.
- As specified, there is no determined off time for the third piece of equipment. Therefore, this means it can run continuously, without any designated off time.

Step 4: Calculate the remaining time available after considering the on time for the third piece of equipment.
- Since the third piece of equipment runs for 15 minutes, we subtract this time from the remaining 3-hour window.
- 3 hours = 3 * 60 minutes = 180 minutes
- Remaining time = 180 minutes - 15 minutes = 165 minutes.

Step 5: Distribute the remaining time between the fourth piece of equipment.
- We divide the 165 minutes evenly between the on and off times for the fourth piece of equipment.
- Assuming equal on and off times, let's call each of these times "x."
- So, the on time for the fourth piece of equipment would be x minutes, and the off time would also be x minutes.

In summary, the off time for the third piece of equipment is undetermined, and for the fourth piece of equipment, both the on and off times are equal and can be represented as "x" minutes.