Wednesday, June 26, 2019

What Applications Might Require Custom Maintenance Inspection Windows?

Most electrical assets require condition inspections be performed while operating in a fully loaded state to identify connection deterioration and potential failure points.  Companies are trending towards a Condition Based Monitoring inspection model whereby assets are routinely inspected under full load in a safer closed and guarded condition to gather and trend equipment health data over time.  This model allows the maintenance team to anticipate when an asset is at high risk of failure and to plan maintenance to repair or replace the asset before it fails.  Maintenance teams also recognize that they must be compliant with new regulations such as NFPA 70E 2018 Edition.  Condition based monitoring of assets and compliance to safety regulations are the driving forces behind the requests for incorporating “safety by design” concepts into your equipment specifications and design proposals.

But, what about electrical components that are hidden or in hard to reach locations?  An infrared camera can only measure what it “sees.”  Can equipment be modified or replaced with solutions that eliminate the hazards of energized electrical inspections?  Absolutely!

Custom maintenance inspection windows are commercially available in any size and any shape enabling previously “un-inspectable” electrical components to be inspected safely under full load in a safe and guarded condition. IRISS can even color match the windows to the color of your existing switchgear. Custom inspection windows are available for infrared inspections or for a combination of infrared and ultrasound inspections.

                                                                               What applications would benefit from a custom inspection window? 

Any application that has electrical components that are hidden or hard to reach may benefit from a custom window.  In addition, equipment with tight clearances to the panel or door may be better served with a custom panel replacement.  Finally, equipment where standard cut-in windows are simply too large or too many windows would be required to see all of the possible targets will be best dealt with via a custom window or replacement panel.  IRISS has an extensive library of custom panel designs already for many common OEM equipment configurations.  If not part of our library, IRISS can create a prototype via 3D scanning, modelling and rapid prototyping to create custom windows of any size or shape quickly.  IRISS is the only manufacturer of custom replacement panels incorporating maintenance Inspection windows that are UL Listed, another key benefit for your customers.

Conclusion:

Having a custom inspection panel that allows the IR camera to “see” the previously obscure targets enables the maintenance team to perform electrical inspections in the same manner as on other components.  Finally, there is a solution to conducting safe inspections of obscure targets under full load in a safe and guarded condition.  Custom inspection windows are economical and assist with a company’s compliance to safety regulations.