How To Do Electrical Infrared Inspection

Infrared inspections of electrical distribution equipment are now a widely accepted maintenance procedure.

How to do electrical infrared inspection.

Maintenance includes vibration analysis on machines audio ultrasonic and infrared thermography inspection on electrical systems. In the case of inspection for commercial and factory premises infrared thermographic inspections do not require the factory or the commercial premise to stop its operations. That means there will be no loss of revenue as a result of the inspection. Infrared thermography is used to perform pd pm inspections on electrical equipment because excess heat is usually the first sign of trouble on electrical or mechanical apparatus.

Infrared scanning of electrical components and systems should be part of any preventative maintenance program and performed on a routine basis. This would be wonderful from the standpoint of logistics manpower and labor hours. Thermographic inspection costs for electrical systems. The benefit of removing panel and or dead front covers on electrical apparatus.

If unfound or untreated these thermal hot spots can cause potential fire explosion or electrical service interruption threats. Since electrical panels must be removed thermographers often come in close proximity to energized components. This paper discusses the national fire protection association nfpa 70e the occupational safety and health administration and. The basis behind this paper is to complete several electrical component inspections using infrared diagnosis.

Routine infrared inspections of energized electrical systems should be performed annually prior to shut down. This task is typically carried out using temperature sensing instruments like thermocouple sensors or other forms of thermometers. More frequent infrared inspections for example quarterly or semiannually should be performed where warranted by loss experience installation of new electrical equipment or changes in environmental operational or load conditions. Infrared thermal imaging inspections detect hot spots and other defects.

The use of infrared scanning to detect early indications of system failure is a preemptive measure that can minimize equipment breakdown and downtime. Before an electrical component burns up it heats up.