July 2020Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
When electrical distribution equipment fails, the results can be catastrophic to a company as workplace injuries and fatalities could occur. A company’s profit margin can be negatively impacted by unscheduled downtime causing lost productivity and lost revenue. Besides large fines from governing bodies, the company could face large worker’s compensation pay-outs and civil litigation.
Closed panel inspection
By implementing closed panel IR (infrared) inspection, electrical asset inspections can be performed while the asset is under full load, but in a safe and guarded condition. Frequent inspections of these assets will provide a data history allowing the maintenance team to routinely assess the health of an electrical asset and determine when that asset needs to be repaired or replaced. Utilising infrared and ultrasound technology, the maintenance team can perform these inspections safely and routinely using a single maintenance inspection window without opening any panels.
Infrared and ultrasound with one window
There is a manufacturer in the United States that designed a maintenance inspection window that allows the maintenance team to take high-quality infrared thermograms and listen to and record ultrasound waves on electrical equipment. These windows are compliant with many of the stringent global standards such as UL, CSA, CE, etc., and incorporate a patented Poly-View System polymer for infrared inspection as well as an ultrasound port or embedded sensor, all the while maintaining a safe, closed and guarded condition for the inspection team. Another main feature of this window is the ability to customise into any size or shape needed to get the inspection job done. These maintenance inspection windows are truly a ‘Safety by Design’ tool as outlined in NFPA 70E 2018.
This dual inspection technology is gaining popularity as a key critical product used in condition based maintenance programmes. Companies are continuously searching for solutions to mitigate risk, reduce operating costs and increase productivity and worker safety. Preventing equipment failures by performing proactive maintenance inspections saves time and money in the long run. A single maintenance inspection window that offers both infrared and ultrasound capability is cost effective and provides a critical tool in a condition based maintenance inspection model.
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