What is Preventive Maintenance (PM)
An electrical Preventive Maintenance (PM) consists of several maintenance tasks to ensure the safe operation of your company’s electrical equipment. Equipment that falls under this can be, Switchgear, Breakers, Disconnect Switches, and Transformers. 
Maintenance tasks may include- but are not limited to:
Electrical testing:
- Insulation resistance
- Digital micro ohm contact testing
- Programmer and PLC testing
- Power factor
- Turn to turn ratio
- Winding resistance testing
- Medium voltage bottle testing
Miscellaneous tasks:
- Re-torquing electrical connections
- Performing visual inspection of internal components
- Inspection of wiring and terminations
- Oil sampling
- Cleaning
- Vacuuming out equipment
- Wiping down the equipment with denatured alcohol
- Removing all dust
- And More
Who Needs a PM
If your company has electrical equipment, such as a small breaker panel up to an entire substation, an electrical PM is needed. It is recommended before an electrical PM that a Thermographic Survey is performed to define any hot spots that will be addressed during outage and maintenance.
When Should a PM be Completed
Electrical PMs range from needing to be performed every year to every three years. Four (4) main contributors are considered when creating a company’s personalized preventative maintenance plan on their electrical equipment:
One (1)-is the criticality of equipment. If you manage a professional business office space, the criticality is low as there are no extreme risks if an outage was to occur. If you manage an electrical plant at a hospital or data center, the criticality of your equipment is much higher, as the extreme risks for an outage are much higher.
Two (2)- is the age of the equipment. Electrical equipment, much like your own car, starts to become needier as time goes on, parts become more scarce, internal electrical components fail, and more overwatch is needed to ensure smooth operation.
Three (3)- is the electrical load of equipment. As electrical equipment takes on higher loads, thermal value temperatures rise. As the loads go down, so does the temperature on all of your internal connections to your equipment. This can cause the correct tightness torque to be lost over a period of operational time. Depending on how much load and fluctuation your equipment will encounter will be a determining factor as to the frequency of your electrical maintenance program.
Four (4)- is the environmental conditions. Where your electrical equipment is located and how the conditions are maintained are critical to the frequency of maintenance. Your maintenance will not be as frequent if your electrical equipment is located inside your building with filtered air conditioning. However, if your equipment is outside in an area that has a large amount of contamination and dust, your maintenance will be more frequent.
Why is a PM Important
Preventative maintenance of your electrical systems is essential not only to prevent downtime at your plant during operations but to prevent injury and loss of life in the event of an electrical fault occurring. A properly maintained breaker will open, clearing a fault in fractions of a second. An unmaintained breaker will allow many more cycles and time to occur before opening if the breaker opens at all.
How are our PMs, and Do we Differ from the Competition
TAW TFS stands out in its ability to quickly perform significant electrical preventative maintenance outages. In contrast, other smaller outfits may take more time to complete the same job. Our trained and competent technicians work integrally with each other, day in and day out, to ensure is safe and effective electrical maintenance outage.
To schedule your company’s tailored electrical preventative maintenance plan, please email Lakeland_quotes@tawinc.com or Miami_quotes@tawinc.com, and our representatives will come to perform an onsite inspection and gather needed information to determine your specific electrical preventative maintenance needs, all at no cost to you.
