Electrotel NSW

How Electrical Preventative Maintenance Can Help Prevent Downtime

Blog | October 23rd, 2018

Electricians can’t predict the future, but they do have a system in place to prevent incidents that may occur. Known collectively as an Electrical Preventative Maintenance service, this work proactively seeks out system flaws before they develop into major problems. After all, it’s those oft-ignored system defects that worsen until electrical equipment can no longer function.

Electrical Preventative Maintenance: The Benefits 

Left unattended, neglected electrical gear will age and fail, often in a manner that can’t immediately be fixed. As a result, everything stops, and equipment downtime hurts operational profit margins. Wouldn’t it be better if someone, a maintenance electrician, checked the equipment regularly? By incorporating this approach, small defects can easily be identified and fixed before they bring everything to a grinding halt. This way, circuits and equipment parts are fixed there and then, not when the damage is beyond repair, and not when it’ll bring an entire equipment line to a potentially costly stop.

Examining A Few Case Studies 

A heavy piece of production line gear is making noise. Its bearings are seizing. The corrosive effect hasn’t spread yet, so the electric motor driving the mechanical parts is undamaged. Soon, however, a stench of burning windings fills the air. The motor is failing. Elsewhere, a damp patch is threatening electrical wiring. Underneath a bench-type drill or machine shop bending machine, cables are overheating and on the verge of shorting out during the factories busy season. These and other faults can all be fixed in a jiffy, but that’s not going to happen if a maintenance service isn’t adopted.

Detecting Worrying Trends 

Electrical preventative maintenance work is carried out in a coordinated manner. There are daily checks to conduct, weekly inspections, monthly tests and yearly examinations, which look far deeper into the gear. There are logbooks to write in, to take note of the current system conditions and any problems. Viewed along a time-based axis, even a seemingly inconsequential equipment hiccup can reveal a system wide trend. Essentially, planned electrical maintenance programs reveal defects and track them as they develop. Frankly, if the equipment is to enjoy a long, problem-free operational life, this predictive maintenance program must be utilized.

Electrical equipment experiences wear. The weather penetrates damaged cables and control panels. Everyday load factors and mechanical failures hamper electrically-based components until they can no longer operate, at which point the whole issue escalates. Downtime is on the cards. To avoid this productivity impacting future, preventative maintenance plans constantly inspect electrical components in search of the smallest defect so that it can be addressed then and there, not when the damage has grown and spread.

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