Electrical Infrared Inspections & Why They’re Important

By North Central Electric,

  Filed under: Electrical, Uncategorized
  Comments: None

To run a facility with maximum efficiency and minimum downtown and profit loss, you must have reliable equipment. A well-established preventative maintenance program and reactive fixes are helpful, but predicting equipment failure and proactively fixing the problem can save you valuable time and money. That’s why electrical infrared scans are crucial for the safety and success of your business. Below our technicians highlight why infrared electrical inspections are necessary at your facility. 

What Is an Infrared Electrical Inspection?Electrical Infrared Inspection

To the untrained eye, electrical systems and equipment may seem pretty normal. But, many electrical, mechanical, and steam system components make up these complex devices. When a piece of machinery fails, you risk the health and safety of your personnel as well as costly downtime that disrupts operations. Increased resistance and heat are the primary reasons why many electrical elements fail. That’s where infrared scans become helpful. Infrared cameras detect this heat, which is usually the first sign of trouble.

Electrical infrared inspections use thermal imaging to find potentially dangerous hot spots and anomalies caused by defects in connections and components. Abnormalities can include damaged switchgear, defective pieces, loose connections, faulty fuses, system overloads, or material defects. These problems can lead to equipment malfunctions, failures, and fire hazards. Regular infrared scans allow potential concerns to be identified early on before they can cause a failure or worse, a building fire.   

Why an Infrared Electrical Inspection Is Important 

Regular infrared scans, performed on an annual basis as part of a preventive and predictive maintenance program, have the potential to protect against catastrophic equipment failures, unscheduled downtime, and higher insurance costs due to fire risk. In fact, these inspections are often required by many insurance companies because of their accuracy and effectiveness in predicting and pinpointing the precise problem area. 

Furthermore, the thermal imaging from the scans provides facilities with the correct information needed to repair or replace the affected equipment. Infrared inspections offer several other benefits to today’s facilities engineers, including: 

  • Precision
  • Reduce unscheduled downtime
  • Reduce equipment damage
  • Increases lifespan of equipment
  • Reduce insurance costs
  • Reduce the risk of fire
  • Increase employee effectiveness 
  • Saves money on expensive repairs
  • Allows for inspection of a vast amount of electrical equipment in a short time
  • Locates faulty electrical items not usually found during a routine physical inspection 

Today’s facility owners and operators utilize infrared scans to avoid costly expenses every year. An infrared electrical inspection can substantially improve profitability and reduce operating, testing, and maintenance costs while identifying issues before they become detrimental to you, your employees, and your machines or electrical systems. At North Central Electric, we offer predictive and preventive maintenance programs, like infrared electrical inspections, that can be customized to meet your facility’s needs. 

Why Choose North Central Electric to Perform Your Electrical Infrared Scan?

Ensure your equipment is always up to industry standards and functioning correctly with our help! The infrared scans performed by our commercial electricians help detect dangerous system problems quickly. Contact us at (215) 945-7632 to begin your predictive and preventative maintenance plan.