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Ultrasonic - A vital part of your EDS preventive maintenance program
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You likely have heard of using Infrared Technology as part of your Preventive Maintenance Program, but does this catch all of the potential problems / deficiencies?
The answer is simply - NO!
Ultrasonic is a very important part of the TEGG Preventive Maintenance Solution. The two technologies used together, compliment one another and offer the most reliable method of protection from unplanned power outages and failure.
A few of the issues that Ultrasonic will identify that may otherwise be overlooked are Corona, Tracking, Low-Level Arcing, and Contact chatter.
Whether you have a solid preventive maintenance program in place and would like to see if there is room for improvement or are seeking help with developing a new program, call today for a free consultation with one of our certified TEGG specialists. Let us help you reach your goals.
Master Electric
952-890-3555
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Testing and Exercising Branch Circuit Breakers
This report is from a Data Center Manager and discusses the importance of proper maintenance of your circuit breakers.
"Any significant down time at my data centers could potentially cost the company millions of dollars in lost revenue, so I looked for every possible problem area and implemented preventative maintenance measures to ensure that downtimes were either minimized or eliminated. One preventative maintenance measure was to pre-test all branch circuit breakers prior to installation.
The last line of defense protecting your critical servers on the raised floor are the branch circuit breakers located within your PDU/RPP's. Considering how many breakers are produced each day, regardless of the brand name, some may have defects. This can lead to several problems. If the branch circuit breaker does not trip on a direct short, the next breaker in line will be the main breaker in your 42 circuit panel and can lead to widespread failures of your critical servers on the raised floor. In the event of an overloaded circuit, if the individual branch breaker does not trip, over time, it can cause a fire.
I found from my years of experience of testing branch circuit breakers installed in our data centers, between overloaded branch circuits and direct shorts, about a 4% failure rate. Even though 4% may not seem like a large percentage, in most data centers, 4% of the thousands of circuit breakers used can still place a significant number of servers at risk".
"Another very important maintenance practice is to exercise the breakers at least every two to three years. This should not be overlooked when implementing scheduled maintenance shutdowns.
My recommendation is that each branch circuit breaker is exercised by turning them off and on at least three to four times. This will ensure the breaker does not become seized in the closed position which could prohibit them from tripping in the event of a direct short or overloaded circuit.
If it is continuous uptime you are seeking to achieve, along with a good maintenance program, testing and exercising branch circuit breakers is a proactive maintenance measure well worth implementing".
Master Electric's TEGG services can provide additional solutions that will help identify signs of premature and imminent electrical failures similar to what is described above.
About 9,000 turkeys killed in barn fire near Pelican Rapids
Pelican Rapids, Minn. (WDAY TV) - Fire officials say electrical issues might be to blame for a barn fire near Pelican Rapids that killed about 9-thousand turkeys.
Firefighters worked to contain the Tuesday night blaze, but the building and its 9 thousand turkeys were a total loss. The turkeys were set to go to market next week.
Losses are estimated at up to 750-thousand dollars. The barn was located about 4 miles east of Pelican Rapids and is owned by Gorton Turkey Farms.
Protect your business and employees from catastrophic electrical events such as this. Contact Master Electric today for a free consultation.
Destroyed Turkey barn
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), working on or around electricity leads to some 4700 non-fatal injuries each year in the United States alone. Electrical accidents or unintended contact with energized systems is also blamed for an average of one death per day, every day, in the workplace. Electrical workplace hazards, in fact, occupy three of the top 10 spots in OSHA's list of top workplace violations in 2010. Lockout/tagout violations led the pack with more than 3000 violations cited, but electrical wiring methods and general electrical code violations were cited nearly as often. In an effort to address urgent safety and health problems faced by Americans in the workplace, OSHA recently implemented a new program in June 2010 that increases civil penalty amounts for violators (EC&M June 2011). TEGG Services identifies these dangerous situations/code violations for you and takes the liability away so you can take steps to fix them BEFORE OSHA "helps" you spend more money than the repair would have cost.
A TEGG inspection conducted in July at a large pharmaceutical manufacturing company uncovered 21 non-heat related concerns and 6 heat related concerns (1 alert, 1 severe and 4 CRITICAL). During the 2 weeks the TEGG Technicians were on site, the company's insurance agent happened to be there for a day and shadowed the TEGG Technicians for a while. His comments were, "This is great stuff. Everyone should be doing this level of inspection. It looks like you guys really know what you are doing.". In addition to identifying critical unplanned and imminent electrical failures, TEGG has now positioned the customer to negotiate better insurance rates, as well as set the stage for conducting an arc flash hazard analysis and become OSHA/NFPA-70E compliant. Click the attachment to see the report page of one of the critical infrared anomalies that was immediately repaired.
Critical MCC IR Find.pdf (215.00 kb)
NFPA-70E, the standard for electrical safety in the workplace that OSHA uses to site violations of this industry standard has the 2012 revision coming out shortly. There are several changes that DIRECTLY affect how you need to be prepared to avoid OSHA violations and fines. One new addition [Section 110.6(D)(1)(f)(New)] reads "The employer shall determine through regular supervision and through inspections conducted on AT LEAST AN ANNUAL BASIS that each employee is complying with the safety-related work practices required by this standard.". Do you have your documentation in order? TEGG Services will help keep you out of the OSHA crosshairs. Click the attachment below to see a sample view of the web based inspection report TEGGPro.
TEGG Failure is not an option.pdf (793.08 kb)
Last week Glenn and Brad stopped out at a national real estate managment company's request. Their nationally contracted IR group found a wire in a lighting panel on 4th floor that was "330 degrees C (626 F). Note: Electrical lugs are rated for 75degree C. See attached photo. We responded to this call and were able to make the repair before a catastrophic incident occured.
IR_1457.jpg (105.33 kb)