Almost all businesses today are heavily dependent on the integrity of their electrical system. Imagine your electrical system as the heart of your business, if it dies, you are left lifeless. Similar to your own body, many strive to have a ‘heart healthy’ lifestyle to increase longevity and productivity. This is the exact mentality you should have about your electrical system.
3 Steps to a Healthy Electrical System
#1: Know your electrical system
First, you need to know all the critical components, one-line diagram, and history of your electrical system. All components of your electrical system are valuable but some, such as transformers, circuit breakers, insulators, switchgear, etc. can take your entire system down with damaging and costly results. A one-line diagram will allow you to understand how everything is connected so if an electrical failure does occur, you can react appropriately. Understanding the history of your electrical system will allow you to further understand each piece of equipment and how it’s previously been maintained and any warranties they may have.
#2: Don’t just fix it, diagnose it
Similar to when someone has a medical condition, rather than the doctor prescribing medicine for every medical issue they will advise you to make healthy life style changes. For example, if you are lactose intolerant, the doctor will advise you to stay away from dairy rather than prescribing medicine to treat the symptoms. Your electrical system is very similar because if you have a piece of equipment that keeps failing, it is safer and more cost efficient to find out why this piece of equipment is failing rather than constantly buying replacements.
#3: Extend life with preventative maintenance
Every year we are recommended to have a yearly health check-up. This isn’t scheduled because you are sick but rather to prevent and protect against potential health risks. It is also a time when doctors may take blood or samples that can detect problems before they surface. We all understand how important these health screens are to allowing us to live a healthy life. Your electrical system is just the same. Even if your electrical system is running smoothly without failure, it is crucial to perform preventative maintenance every year. A visual inspection can diagnose any exterior problems and innovative technologies like ultrasonic testing (UT) and infrared scanning (IR) can hear and see things that are potential failure points. Maintenance of your electrical distribution systems is critical for reliable operations. The benefits of preventative maintenance include reducing costly repairs and minimizing/eliminating downtime. You also will improve safety for your personnel and property.
