What are the procedures in electrical switchgear maintenance and care?
10 tips to extend the life of your switchgear
- Perform Infrared Inspections.
- Exercise Circuit Breakers on an Annual Basis.
- Don’t Neglect Recommended Maintenance.
- Recondition the Equipment.
- Keep Good Records and Trend Performance.
- Upgrade the Equipment.
- Outsource Preventive Maintenance Via a Long-Term Service Agreement.
How do you maintain low voltage switchgear?
All of the units of the switchboard to be maintained must be de-energized, tested for potential, grounded and tagged out before removing covers and barriers for access to primary circuits. Keep in mind that power circuit breakers are also capable of storing mechanical energy in the form of contact closing springs.
How often should Switchgear be tested?
Routine trip testing should be performed every 3 to 5 years. Low-voltage Circuit Breakers should be inspected and maintained every 1 to 3 years, depending on their service and operating conditions.
How maintenance is being performed in the busbar?
Any maintenance on busbars should only be performed when the ship in Dry dock or Black out condition: Open the door for main and emergency switchboards where inspection is to be performed. Carryout visual inspection of copper plate and nut bolts. Clean the bus bar and switchboard area with the help of vacuum cleaner.
How do you test switchgear?
The electrical switchgear may be tested with AC or DC voltage to check the condition of the insulation of switchgear and circuit breakers. Before conducting any other tests, an insulation resistance test (by Megger) should always be conducted first to determine if it is safe to conduct other HV tests.
What is medium voltage panel?
From 3 KV to 36 KV switchgear system is categorized as medium voltage switchgear or MV switchgear. These switchgears are of many types. Medium voltage switchgear, should be capable of, Normal ON/OFF switching operation. Short circuit current interruption.
What is preventive maintenance?
Preventive maintenance (PM) is the regular and routine maintenance of equipment and assets in order to keep them running and prevent any costly unplanned downtime from unexpected equipment failure. A successful maintenance strategy requires planning and scheduling maintenance of equipment before a problem occurs.
What are the two basic functions performed by switchgear?
There are three basic functions of switchgear power systems: electrical protection, electrical isolation, and control. Switchgear power systems are the combination of electrical disconnects that serve the function of isolating electrical equipment. The electrical disconnects can either be fuses or circuit breakers.
How do you test a switchgear?
What is busbar maintenance?
Bus bar maintenance can be done when the ship is in black out condition, i.e. ship’s generators are not running and no power is supplied to main or emergency switchboards. If the main switchboard busbars are to be inspected or to be work on, keep emergency generator running.