Preventative maintenance for electrical systems

During the winter months, power requirements are higher for many industries as facilities struggle to keep buildings warm and their assets in operation. In addition, in today's economic environment, facility and plant managers also struggle with efforts to lower power consumption in order to reduce expenses.

Avoid electrical shorts that cause fires: Electrical short circuits can occur when wires are overloaded with current, wires are exposed and load imbalances. This can cause excessive heat buildup, arcing or explosions.

Identify loose connections: Loose connections can cause power fluctuations to devices, devices to operate erratically and uneven load distribution between wires.

Identify components running hot or not according to specifications: Transformers, motors, bearings and wires almost always run hot before they fail. Predictive maintenance technologies such as infrared thermography, vibration analysis and laser alignment tools as well as general maintenance such as regularly scheduled lubrication can avoid asset failure.

Identify unusual smells, noises, dust build up, or discoloration: Melting insulation, stressed motors, corrosion through dust and so on make a physical inspection a requirement for electrical components. Electrical troubleshooting should be performed using a systematic approach.

Check all emergency lighting, signage and power indicator displays: Many electrical disasters occur when the safety monitoring equipment itself is faulty leading to a false belief that all is ok.

Extend the useful lifecycle of assets: Poorly maintained assets require more energy to do the same amount of work. This leads to excessive wear and tear and a shortening of the assets useful lifecycle.

The most basic financial benefits of EPM are right up front: electrical failures, electrical fires, and equipment outages cost big dollars. In fact, electrical failure costs businesses millions of dollars in losses annually. Having a proactive EPM plan is shown to reduce most major problems, minimizing the need for expensive reactive maintenance.

But the cost of an equipment failure isn’t just immediate. There are also secondary financial repercussions, such as payouts when injuries happen in unsafe workspaces, higher electricity costs from inappropriately calibrated machinery, not to mention expensive equipment replacements.

Electrical preventive maintenance helps facilities achieve maximum operational efficiency and reliability. As a result of EPM maintenance practices, there are fewer unplanned downtimes. When they do occur, they’re shorter and more predictable.

When EPM isn’t employed, operational efficiency suffers drastically. Often, the malfunctioning equipment refuses to reveal itself without a detailed inspection that requires  a mechanical or facility shut down.

Compromised systems or components such as circuit breakers or relay switches will cascade problems downstream and compromise additional systems. -- headaches that can be avoided with regular proactive EPM routines.