Routine care and maintenance

The aim of routine care

Electrical equipment lasts longest when it stays clean, cool, dry and correctly loaded. Most routine care is about keeping those conditions. This guide describes what an owner can plan as routine care and where the boundary lies between site care and qualified service. The installation and operating manual for each unit takes precedence over this general guidance.

Safety first

Any work that involves opening equipment, touching connections or working near live parts is carried out only by competent, authorised people, with the equipment isolated under the site's safety and permit system. Equipment can hold dangerous voltages after it is switched off. The checks below that can be done without opening the equipment are the ones suited to routine site care.

Routine checks without opening the equipment

Surroundings

• Keep the ventilation openings and the space around the equipment clear
• Keep the room clean and dry, and check for water ingress after heavy rain
• Confirm that the room ventilation or cooling is working

Indications

• Note the front-panel indications and readings at regular intervals, in a simple log
• Record any alarm, with the date and time and the readings at the time
• Compare readings with those in the commissioning record; a gradual change can be an early sign of a problem

Sound, smell and heat

• Note any change in the sound the equipment makes in normal operation
• Report any burning smell, visible smoke or unusual heat immediately, and follow the site's isolation procedure

Load

• Record significant changes to the connected load, such as new equipment or extensions
• A load that has grown beyond the rating agreed should be reviewed before it causes a problem

Product-specific care

Servo voltage stabilizers and voltage controllers

These units contain moving and wearing parts, such as cooling fans where fitted and the servo-driven or motorised variable transformer. Their inspection, cleaning and any replacement are part of planned maintenance by qualified people, at intervals stated in the manual. On oil-cooled units, check the oil level indication as the manual describes.

Transformers

Oil level, temperature indications and the condition of the breather are checked as the manual describes. Oil sampling and testing, where required, are planned maintenance tasks.

Rectifiers

Process atmospheres can deposit contamination. Keep the cabinet exterior clean and the cooling arrangement working, and plan internal inspection by qualified people.

Power supplies and LED drivers

These are generally maintained as part of the host product or luminaire. Keep the product's own ventilation clear and report failures with the batch or serial identity.

Keep a simple log

A one-page log kept beside the equipment is one of the most useful maintenance records. Record the date, the input and output readings, any alarm, and any work done. When a problem occurs, the log shows whether readings changed gradually, which helps the investigation more than a single reading taken on the day.

Planned maintenance

Plan periodic maintenance by qualified people according to the manual and the operating conditions; dusty, hot or heavily loaded installations need more attention. Keep the maintenance log with the handover documents. Planned maintenance can be discussed through the enquiry form or, for installed equipment, the service request form.

When to stop and request service

If the equipment alarms repeatedly, trips, makes an unusual noise, smells of burning or shows readings outside its normal range, stop routine care and follow troubleshooting boundaries.