Failing switchgear is a costly issue, but some preventive care can go a long way toward reducing issues and unplanned downtime. Below, we’ll break down the reasons for premature equipment failure, and how you can prolong the lifespan of your industrial switchgear.

Why Does Switchgear Fail?

Most equipment does not fail due to age, and that’s because industrial switchgear is often not given that opportunity. The average piece of equipment often fails because of lack of maintenance or some environmental factor that causes it to break.

The good news is that businesses don’t need to settle for early equipment failure. If switchgear and other industrial equipment is sized and maintained correctly, you can maximize the lifespan of your parts and reduce the headaches associated with surprise replacements.

How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Industrial Electrical Equipment

Maintenance Program

Switchgear and circuit breakers are at the top of the list for ongoing care. The best way to start is to institute yearly or bi-annual maintenance program that should include disassembly and inspection of components. This process should include:

• Testing insulation for quality and contact surfaces for conductivity according to manufacturing and industry standards.
• Cleaning and lubrication of mechanical assemblies.
• Complete disassembly to component level and renewal of silver, zinc and other plating if needed.

Upgrading 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 its versions.

This type of service should be performed on a regular basis. 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. Depending on the size of the switchgear and its impact on production, if out of service, it may be ideal to carry two or more spare breakers.

Protection from the Environment

The conditions surrounding your switchgear can slowly, but surely lead equipment to an early demise. The first step is to review the surrounding environment for potential exposure to moisture and other environmental degradations. If kept from these elements, switchgear can and will typically perform well for decades beyond its original projected lifespan.

In addition to preventing exposure, it’s also best to include cleaning in your maintenance schedule. Aim to clean, dry, and de-energize your equipment at least once a year (and preferably twice a year), to help improve performance.

Solve Your Industrial Switchgear Replacement Problems with NPE

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.

Give us a call at (800) 647-0815 or contact us online to get the parts you need to keep your building production and systems running trouble free.

The integrity of your power system can only be relied upon when regular maintenance is performed to the system, and this is especially true for larger equipment.

Simply put, all equipment regardless of frame size (amperage) or voltage class. However, the unfortunate truth is that larger, more powerful equipment can cause larger and more deadly problems. This reality means that circuit breaker repair, testing, and upgrades should be an integral part of every plant’s maintenance program.

What to Include in Your Circuit Breaker Maintenance Program

Regular, documented observations

This breaker maintenance process starts with simple observations. These reviews should be conducted by technicians who are familiar with the equipment and how the gear looks, acts, and even smells. Technicians should review every part of the system, including:

• Air circuit breakers
• Vacuum breakers
• Switches
• Protective relays
• Auxiliary equipment

Continuation with regular, documented tests according to manufacturer’s requirements, cannot be overstated. Any equipment that fails to trip or otherwise clear a fault, can harm or even fatalities, cause fires, damage equipment and increase arc flash hazards to workers or others nearby.

Insulation testing

This maintenance includes testing of the insulation. Test reports will include the breaker type, manufacturer and model number, serial or SO number, insulation tests, and overcurrent production tests. These tests should verify the insulation’s:

• Integrity
  
• Contact resistance
  
• Overcurrent protection of the device overall, as well as its individual components

How NPE Maintains Strict Maintenance and Testing for Circuit Breaker Equipment We Sell

As the go-to source for switchgear and circuit breaker needs, we ensure that our inventory is ready to ship when you need it.

NPE ensures that all of its technicians are up to date with testing requirements and procedures and follow guidelines by accredited organizations like PEARL (Professional Electrical Recyclers League) and AVO, as well as its own integral guidelines learned over time.

All tests are documented and confirmed with our own internal test reports and photos which are provided to the customer with the shipment. Upgrades include updated overcurrent protection with specific modern trip systems and new and improved parts from NPE's aftermarket parts inventory.

Solve Your Industrial Switchgear and Circuit Breaker Challenges with NPE

At NPE, we provide more than just cabinets and parts, we provide solutions for customers from every spectrum of the electrical industry.

Our warehouses are filled with thousands of circuit breakers and switchgear cabinets, and tens of thousands of parts, and we can work with you to help you get the right equipment, at the right price, right now.

Give us a call at (800) 647-0815 or contact us online to get the parts you need to keep your building production and systems running trouble free.

As discussed in other articles on this site, care and maintenance of the primary disconnect (bottle) assembly in your GE Magne-Blast switchgear is a critical element that ensures proper functioning for years to come. Performing this critical maintenance can be tricky to do in a cost-effective manner if you are not intimately familiar with the equipment. Fortunately, we specialize in this area.

The Two Routes for GE Magne-Blast Maintenance

Remove and Rebuild

The first maintenance option is to remove the bottles from the Magne-Blast gear—either one breaker at a time or in mass—and then have them rebuilt in a proper fixture (to ensure proper alignment) using modern materials that ensure proper functioning for years, if not decades, to come. Performing maintenance in this manner can become time consuming from both a labor and an outage standpoint since each breaker will be taken out of service and will remain that way for at least a week or more depending on labor and outage schedules.

Swap Them Out

The second option is to purchase bottle assemblies that are already rebuilt and tested and have them swapped with existing equipment in one outage. The cost savings in downtime and mobilization costs for labor are obvious. However, you will need a supplier like NPE with both the experience and the inventory necessary to ensure that the replacement bottles you acquire match the existing ones, making them interchangeable without modifications in the field. GE has published very little comprehensive information on this subject. The attached diagram is often thought to be an all-inclusive guide, but our hands-on experience has shown that there are many more styles and factors that can affect interchangeability.

Getting the right information to your switchgear dealer is fairly simple, but it does require an outage. You will need to remove the inspection covers and get detailed, well-lit photos of the copper details at the top of both the line and the load side bottles, as well as photos of the bottom side by the shutter. Also, you will need to document the model number and the frame size of the breaker that will be installed into the cell. The feeder breakers are often the same configuration, but care will have to be taken with the main and ties breakers and document them separately.

Once the proper bottles have been identified, rebuilt, and swapped out, the existing bottles can be rebuilt and kept on hand for future spares or, if they are in rebuildable condition, they can be returned for credit as cores.

If it’s time to maintain or replace your Magne-Blast Switchgear primary disconnects, NPE can help. Learn more about how NPE’s bottle repotting program can be just what you need or just contact us today to talk to one of our experts.