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Industrial Electrician

Electrical_Preventive-Maintenance

When majority of countries are buried under heap of snow and enduring freezing points, considering the significance of electricity is of the essence. You must ensure that your industrial electrical facilities are proper and well inspected for potential electrical issues. Slight reluctance in preventive maintenance on your electrical systems can lead to disaster and it can happen any time without any alarm.

Why Opt for Electrical Preventive Maintenance

As during the winter months, power consumption are always high for most of industrial set up to keep buildings warm and their devices operational. Considering today’s economic ecosystem, facility and unit managers also juggle to reduce power consumption to keep the expenses under check.

Let’s have an insight what are those reasons that can come to your benefits if you perform preventive maintenance for your electrical settings.

Benefits of Performing Preventive Electrical Maintenance

  • Prevent From Electrical Shorts Leading to Fires

Short circuits are the major cause of fire, which is the result of heap of wires overload with current, exposed wires and load imbalance. It may result in excessive heat build up or explosions.

  • Detect Loose Connections

It can lead to fluctuations to device; promote devices to work erratically and imbalanced load distribution amongst wires.

  • Detect Devices Running Hot

Motors, switches, transformers, bearings and cables usually run hot when they are about to fail. Predictive electrical maintenance system like infrared thermography, laser alignment tools, vibration analysis and general maintenance like regularly scheduled lubrication can avoid such massive failure.

  • Ascertain Unusual Noises, Smells, Discoloration or Dust Build up

A physical inspection can detect melting insulation, corrosion through dust, stressed motors and may more. It is necessary to conduct a physical inspection to avoid such situation. Electrical issues can be fixed using a right and systematic approach.

  • Monitor all Emergency Lighting, Power Indicator and Signage Displays

Several electrical accidents are the results of faulty safety monitoring equipment. So keeping a check of all electrical components is important.

  • Extend Lives of Assets 

Improperly maintained assets would need more energy to perform the same amount of work, leading to excessive wear and tear and shrinking of assets useful lifecycle.

  • Avoid Unexpected Downtime

Unwanted downtime can lead to unexpected slow and shut down of production, which will in turn lead to emergency labour costs and unwanted capital asset replacement expenses. Lack of proper electrical training can immensely and adversely impact the profitability of the company.

  • Less Equipment Loss

Continue electrical preventive measures will cut down the quantity of devices that needs to be replaced due to electrical problems.

  • Energy Savings

Optimal energy consumption can be witnessed when equipment is performing well within design parameters and is aptly maintained.

  • Safety and Liability 

Safety is the most vital reason for opting for a consistent electrical maintenance. It avoids serious injuries or even death.

How Frequently Should Electrical Preventive Maintenance be initiated?

The entire electrical systems should undergo a thorough inspection by an approved and expert electrician periodically like in 3 to 5 years. Personal belongings should be reviewed as per manufacturer instructions or based upon experience and industrial training in a specific environment.  Preventive maintenance works is most aptly managed using CMMS software for initiating and recording of activity, results and comments.

A suite of electrical PM can have complete inspection of the electrical system that includes:

  • Re-torque connections
  • Checking PLCs for proper functioning
  • Checking panel boards
  • Inspecting work orders and new installs for compliance and uniformity
  • Ensuring lock-out tags are in place
  • Checking the functioning of heating and cooling units
  • GFCIs
  • Lighting
  • Shutdown systems
  • NEC code compliance

Electrical PM Tools

Electrical preventive maintenance task can be performed levering several technology tools. Which tool to select is solely dependent on the type, accessibility of assets and location for which you need the tools. The entire performance should be planned and be consistent. Just ensure the installation and inspection is done by a licensed electrician.

A few of the most popular tools available includes:

  • CMMS/EAM tool for maintenance management. It schedules all forms of preventive and predictive maintenance that includes inspections, work orders and tracking vendor documents for outsourcing of projects.
  • CBM and reliability driven maintenance processes.
  • PLC and Training: These are used to control the equipment from assembly lines to lighting fixtures. These are meant for multiple inputs and output systems, wider temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise etc.

In addition to all these there are several other systems and processes like Infrared Thermography, Vibration Analysis, Ultrasonic Analysis, Laser Alignment, using the senses etc. that you can use to keep your machinery at good health and smart working condition.

Synopsis

Every company has a unique set of machineries and assets. It is rarely possible that the same electrical inspection checklist will work for all types of organization.  So select the most appropriate tools and systems to keep your assets and tools in good condition.

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