Let's imagine a workshop of a certain manufacturing enterprise where people work, in which there are machines, various equipment is installed and configured there, a lighting system is functioning, etc. This enterprise produces something, it has contractors, customers waiting for deliveries.
Thermographic Testing, Infrared Electrical Testing & Inspection
But suddenly, in one of the electrical connections, a conduction disturbance suddenly occurs. What can be the result?
- Failure of expensive equipment;
- Non-production downtime;
- Delays in the delivery of products;
- Affected consumers;
- Lost profit;
- Sudden repair costs;
- Problems with paying salaries to employees, etc.
- In a word - a disaster!
But this could have been avoided by carrying out preventive thermal imaging control of numerous electrical components at the enterprise in a timely manner.
The bottom line is that a faulty component (switch, terminal block, etc.), as a rule, begins to overheat long before the accident, as if hinting by an increase in its temperature that something has already gone wrong here. And if the fact of overheating is not noticed in a timely manner, the malfunction is not identified and eliminated, then the violation will continue to worsen: the resistance will continue to grow in a certain section of the wiring, its temperature will continue to rise further and more, the voltage on the consumer will begin to decrease. The result is a sudden break and / or failure of equipment, which, along with it, can also bring fire to the adjacent territory.
Thermography, as part of the preventive maintenance of electrical equipment, helps to identify malfunctions before they have time to develop and lead to significant material damage and the need for repairs: inspection and detection of the fact of a temperature increase in one place or another, on one or another electrical component, will serve a signal of an incipient failure in the relevant part of the electrical network.
It is heating that is most often the main early sign of damage to electrical equipment. Therefore, temperature is one of the most important operational parameters, the current value of which can be used to identify a problem in critical devices. Such problems, if not immediately paid due attention to them, acting for a long time, can indirectly violate the correct operating conditions of many devices powered by the mains.
Carrying out regular (annual) thermographic monitoring as part of the preventive maintenance of electrical equipment, it is often possible to identify improper working conditions of individual consumers that are invisible to the naked eye, and, without delay, conduct their in-depth checks to prevent more serious consequences. Timely preventive maintenance at an early stage will extend the life of your equipment and help you avoid more costly repairs long before it really could be needed.
Today, there are companies that specialize in thermographic inspection (with the help of thermal imagers) of electrical and mechanical electrical equipment without disrupting the workflow of the enterprise. Upon completion of the work, they form written reports in which they describe all identified violations. Studies show that such measures help to save huge amounts of money in the long run, when you take into account the costs of repairing an accident, increasing production and reducing downtime.
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