Wednesday, March 13, 2019

What Is The Proper Way To Install A Square Maintenance Inspection Window?

As the manager of your company’s reliability maintenance team. you are responsible for all of the pre-planning, training and post installation processes when a new piece of equipment is installed, or an existing piece of equipment is upgraded. Your company recently purchased maintenance inspection windows for use on several critical electrical assets that will be inspected routinely to record asset health and determine when an asset may be failing. Can the plant’s reliability team perform the window installation correctly? The answer is YES!

Your company partnered with a highly respected maintenance window manufacturer to insure the products purchased are of the highest quality and performance. Proper installation of the windows is critical to the long term use and performance. The company provides detailed instructions for the proper installation of its inspection windows.

Installation Instructions

Installation Video

Pre-Installation: Read the installation instructions thoroughly making sure you understand each step. If you have questions, contact your maintenance inspection window provider for clarification. If necessary, schedule the equipment shutdown and insure that the team understands the company’s internal procedures for a safe shutdown and is following all Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) procedures.

Getting Started: Gather the tools and equipment required as per the installation instructions.

Verify the Contents: Check that you received the window, a fitting template and a label

Record Transmission Rate: Record the transmission rate of the window on the window’s label

Field of View: Know the Field of View of each window that will be installed

Using the Template: Apply the fitting template to the selected location on the panel

Center Punch Holes: Using a center punch, mark all of the fixing holes on the template

Drill Fixing Holes: Drill the center punched holes

Cut Out: Using a grinder or nibbler, cut the required hole. Alternately, a hydraulic punch set and specific dies recommended by the window manufacturer may be used. De-burr the rough edges and remove the fitting template. Apply a protective anti-corrosion coating to the bare metal edges of the hole.

Fit the Window: Place the window, fit and tighten the hardware

Affix the Label: This label contains critical information for the thermographer: # of targets, emissivity of the targets and the transmission rates of the viewing pane with different Infrared cameras. If Intelligent Asset Tags are being used, now is the time to program them as well.

Post Installation: Post-installation, the thermographer should conduct a benchmark inspection insuring that the window is properly installed allowing the IR camera to “see” all of the targets. Record the baseline data to the Intelligent Asset Tags if applicable.

Conclusion:

Maintenance inspection window installation is easy provided the manufacturer’s installation instructions and internal company procedures are followed. Proper installation of the window insures long term use and performance. A post-installation inspection must be performed to establish a baseline and confirm that the installation was properly performed. Maintenance inspection windows are one of the many tools available to conduct condition based maintenance inspections of critical electrical assets.