Most equipment does not fail simply due to age but rather because of lack of maintenance and environmental factors. If equipment is sized and maintained correctly, kept from moisture and other environmental degradations, it can and will typically perform well for decades beyond its original projected lifespan. If kept clean and dry and de-energized for periodic maintenance at least once a year but preferably twice a year, it typically will perform well.

Switchgear and circuit breakers are at the top of the list of these maintenance items. Yearly or bi-annual maintenance programs should include disassembly and inspection of components. Testing insulation for quality and contact surfaces for conductivity according to manufacturing and industry standards, as well as cleaning and lubrication of mechanical assemblies. This may even include complete disassembly to component level and renewal of silver, zinc and other plating. Upgrading of the trip unit to latest industry standards will improve both liability and flexibility because most of these trip units are adjustable through a wide range of settings. At NPE we stock and have a wide range of OEM trip units and also have a great working relationship with aftermarket providers, like Utility Relay and their AC Pro Trip Unit in all of its versions.

This type of service should be performed on a regular basis and it is also a good practice to have good spare breakers on hand to replace at least one of each type of breaker in your switchgear but ideally two or more depending on the size of the switchgear and its impact on production, if out of service. 

The lifespan of your switchgear can and should be extended through these programs as a matter of proper maintenance and budgeting. Maintenance and upgrades have repeatedly proven to be much more cost effective than replacement, requires less down time and doesn't disrupt other systems in the plant. 

National Power Equipment, Inc. can and will serve as an indispensable partner in their programs with equipment in stock and available to ship on short notice and we have the knowledge and experience to walk you through the pitfalls of equipment replacement that may be difficult for OEM's or others to document. 

So give us a call, send us an email or even a fax and let's see what we can help you with today! "The right equipment, at the right price, right now!"

Whether an outage is caused by a natural or manmade disaster or a simple lack of regular maintenance and testing, an electrical outage means loss of production. A lack of production results in the loss of money and costly delays for customers. NPE specializes in being your go-to partner for expediting your equipment after an outage. NPE specializes in providing fast, cost-effective solutions no matter what the problem is. We deliver the right part, at the right price, right away.

Effects of Power Outages on Businesses

Electricity drives productivity in the modern world, and often production is run on switchgear and circuit breakers that have been off the market for years, if not decades. If you contact the original manufacturer and they tell you they no longer support your product line, your only option will be to replace your equipment with a newer model on the market. This will often entail reconfiguring your distribution system, paying upgrade costs, and waiting months for “the latest and greatest” product line – only to find out that it’s less reliable than what you previously had. 

In manufacturing, even seemingly small power flickers can cause significant impacts. Manufacturers are especially vulnerable to equipment damage during outages; electrical surges may occur when power is restored, resulting in costly damage to critical equipment that is difficult to repair.

For high-volume manufacturers, a power outage can mean disruption that ripples through the entire supply chain. Shipping and receiving can come to a standstill, causing truck drivers and other means of transportation to be delayed or rescheduled.
 
So, when disaster strikes and you’re faced with these obstacles, what do you do? Who do you call to restore production in the fastest and most economical way? That’s where National Power Equipment comes in to help. As a stocking distributor of used, remanufactured circuit breakers and switchgear parts and our ever-growing list of aftermarket parts, NPE can supply you with the right equipment, at the right price when you need it. 

How to Prevent Power Outages?

While you can’t always predict when a power outage is going to strike, you can work quickly to connect with our professional team to ensure your operation is up and running quickly. Our warehouses are stocked with low voltage (600 VAC or less) through medium voltage (15,000 volts or less) air and vacuum circuit breakers, switchgear, medium voltage motor starters, load break switches, and all the parts needed to go with it. Our inventory is stocked with equipment that dates from World War II to the present. Our services go beyond part replacement, our staff has the experience, knowledge, and expertise to get your operation back up and running in a fraction of the time compared to a full system replacement. Think of us as your “ELECTRICAL 911”. When disaster strikes, large or small, we can assess the problem, offer a variety of solutions, and start implementing them right away.

Case Study: Navigating the Aftermath of a Flood

Consider the case of a once-in-a-lifetime flood that incapacitated a technical center for a major automotive company. While the water was still receding, NPE was on-site – consulting with the contractor, assessing the damage, and formulating plans. We helped to ensure replacement parts and equipment began arriving the next day. NPE supplied medium voltage fuses and switch parts, low and medium voltage circuit breakers, relays, and a variety of additional parts. Our team worked tirelessly to help get over twenty load centers back online quickly. The first of the substations came on in a week, and within eight weeks 99% of production was restored.  Overall, NPE made seventy-nine separate shipments including one of sixty-seven circuit breakers that were reconditioned and ready to go.

What to Do When Your Business Loses Power

Unexpected outages, large or small, require two things to overcome them – experience and options. If you’re in the market for a knowledgeable, trusted partner in the switchgear and circuit breaker market, we can help. Contact us today or head to https://npeinc.com to find out how we can utilize our 40+ years of industry expertise to find the right solution for you. 

Many say that we are currently in a recession, others say not yet but one is due to hit soon. Either way we are all dealing with rising prices, longer lead times and shortages in available equipment. At NPE, we are here to help recession-proof your business.

Here's how we can help!

* Used, reconditioned equipment is at least 40%-60% less expensive than buying new.

* Used, reconditioned equipment is always quoted from available inventory so there are no supply chain issues.

* All reconditioned equipment is tested and warranted for up to two years! That's longer the manufacturer warrented it as new!

National Power Equipment specializes in:

Parts for Equipment Maintenance and Repair- We can support you with parts and supplies to keep your breakers, switchgear and medium voltage starters safely maintained and running for years to come. Many of the most problematic parts are available online at Aftermarket Parts Store for Replacement Circuit Breakers or Switchgears (npeinc.com) Many of these parts are available as new and upgraded by NPE (or one of our partners) to eliminate the defect that caused the problem in the first place.

Increase Capacity - As your business grows we can help your switchgear grow with you! From simply supplying a breaker for a future cell or adding and entire unit substation we have the equipment and expertise to help you expand economicly and without down time. Circuit Breakers, Relays, Transformers National Power Equipment (npeinc.com)

Equipment Upgrades - Solid State trip upgrades with reputable companies, such as Utility Relay, are one of our many specialties. Do you need to upgrade the ampacity of a line from say 1200 amp to 2000 or 3000 amp? We have the parts and experience to help there, too! Reconditioned Equipment (npeinc.com).

Rentals and Exchanges - With an inventory of literally thousands of breakers in every configuration, we can help you avoid longer term outages and stay up and running by purchasing upgraded and warranted breakers and equipment and swapping them out with your existing breakers, then return your original back to us for credit for the core. Quick Ship Inventory for Reconditioned Circuit Breakers & Switchgears (npeinc.com).

Technical Support - With decades of hands-on experience, literally 1,000's of breakers on hand for reference and huge online library of technical manuals and renewal parts books. Just give is a call and we will figure it out! Circuit Breakers, Relays, Transformers National Power Equipment (npeinc.com).

As Bob Dylan said, "The times they are a-changin'!" but that doesn't mean change has to be bad. With NPE's inventory, staff and decades of experience, we can all navigate these economic changes and grow.

Give us a call 1-800-647-0815 or send us an email info@npeinc.com and let us know how we can help you.

Remember, at NPE our motto is "The Right Equipment, at the Right Price, Right Now!"

Almost every day we receive an inquiry for switchgear, air and vacuum circuit breakers and related parts because the customer just got notice from the OEM  that their order has been delayed by weeks or even months due to "supply chain issues". These issues have become a fact of life and effect everyone, everyday regardless of industry, right? Wrong!

How NPE Helps Businesses Beat the Switchgear Shortage

When you deal with a company like National Power Equipment (NPE), there are NO supply chain issues! Everything we quote is on the shelf waiting for an order. We generally ship the same day or next day. Custom orders may take a little longer, but still are a fraction of the time versus OEM orders and are a fraction of the cost of new! 

NPE has thousands of used air and vacuum circuit breakers, tons of switchgear and tens of thousands of related parts all in stock. Each order has a money back guarantee and reconditioned equipment has a 1-2 year warranty.

In short, NPE has:

     Equipment is IN STOCK and ready to ship 

     Never had a supply chain issue

     Expert staff that will guide you through finding the proper equipment for your application

     Inventory that is updated daily and searchable online at www.npeinc.com

So give us a call, send us an email or search or inventory online. Find out why our motto at National Power Equipment, Inc. is "The right equipment, at the right price, right now!"

     Modern air and vacuum circuit breakers are an integral part of all industrial and commercial electrical systems. Failure of just one of these breakers can have far reaching ramifications for both production and finances. Preventing these failures is the goal of any good maintenance program and consists of two basic layers:

1. Regular preventative mainteance (PM) programs not only add reliability to your system but can also point out potential problems so they can be proactively dealt with in a cost effective manner. Nobody wants "unscheduled" outages because a component has failed and as a result, damaged other equipment in the process and interrupted production. PM programs can be scheduled around production schedules (holidays, weekends, nights...) and include a basic clean and test work scope in which breakers are cleaned, lubed and tested for insulation and contact resistance, primary or secondary injection of the trip units. Frequency of these schedules is also dependent upon the ambient conditions that the switchgear and breakers are exposed to. There is a big difference between a paper mill and a hospital environment. This work may be able to be performed in the field, but it is best handled in the controlled conditions of a quality shop that specializes in this work.

2. Remanufacture and or retrofit offers significant life extension and reliability of your air and vacuum circuit breakers. It differentiates itself from a PM program in several ways. The primary difference is work scope. A remanufacturing program like NPE's "Class One" program includes a full disassembly and inspection of each individual component, right down to the last spring and washer. Once inspected, the components are cleaned and plated according to the components use. Current carrying parts are silver plated and mechanism parts are generally zinc plated, although there are a few minor exceptions like phosphate plating. Painted parts are stripped to the base metal, primed and painted, the wiring is replaced with fresh SIS wiring customized to the existing prints. Replacement parts are available from our inventory if used and aftermarket parts with little or no delays to the rebuild. Also, now is the time to replace solenoid coils and rewind motors as needed and upgrade low voltage breakers to a modern solid state overcurrent trip system like Utility Relay's AC Pro or AC Pro II. This type of work scope cannot be done in the field and typically involves shipping to a facility like NPE for a 4-6 week turnaround. Any good remanufacturing program will provide you with test reports indicating that the breaker is ready for service and a warranty. NPE is so confident in its rebuild program that it has extended the industry standard one year warranty to two years.

Having an integral part of your infrastructure out of service for four to six weeks can be a major hurdle to overcome for many facilities. Ideally, a spare breaker should be on hand for each application and swapped out as needed for remanufacture and upgrade, but many facilities may not have adequate spares on hand. That is where a stocking distributor like NPE can be a beneficial partner. NPE has the inventory to either provide spares for your swap out program or we can rebuild breakers out of our inventory and swap them for yours during the change out.

     Still not sure what to do? As someone once said, you always have three choices..."the right choice", the wrong choice and no choice; and the last two are the same thing", of the three options, which do you choose? If you choose the first one, give us a call or drop us an email, we'll be happy to discuss your issues and provide a long or short term solution. Otherwise, we'll probably be hearing from you after choice two or three kicks in!

NPE - The right choice, the right price, right now!