What is Electrical Preventive Maintenance (EPM) and Why Do You Need It?
When an electrical problem occurs, items such as phones, computers, lighting, HVAC systems, and many other items sit idle. This is hardly the time to step back and figure out a good preventive measure to avoid this happening again. Instead you’re forced to act quickly, inefficiently, and definitely not cost effectively.
If you’re part of a multi-million dollar manufacturing facility, data center, or inbound call center, and a problem like this occurs, all eyes are on the facilities group, while dollars in lost production, sales calls, and equipment down-time add up by the minute. This is when a good electrical preventive maintenance program, or EPM, pays dividends. In today’s economy, many companies are downsizing their workforces, including facilities/maintenance personnel. It is very easy to overlook the hard work these people do to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes, and unfortunately, the distribution power in a building is largely ignored until a catastrophic problem occurs. As in recent automobiles, electrical distribution equipment longevity has improved tremendously, but like cars, the equipment will always need proper maintenance to last as long as intended.
What Can You Do to Keep Your Equipment Performing as Required?
A good EPM program will give you an idea on how things are operating, track maintenance items and intervals of service, help prepare for upgrades/replacements of parts before failure occurs, and the often overlooked task of keeping good records of the above. A good program would also include periodic communication between the owner, and EPM program provider. After all, if there is a problem at 1am during a critical operation, you’d want the company who is familiar with the building to be the ones responding to the call, minimizing the investigation time required that someone not familiar would need, thus minimizing cost to the owner.
How Can Billitier Electric Help With This Important Preventive Maintenance?
Billitier Electric has always been of the belief that our customers are our most important asset. This is why we take the preventive measures of our business very personally. The small cost of preventive maintenance relative to major power outages further confirm our need to provide our customers with the best possible systems to allow them to strive in their area of business. Because of our long history and reputation, we often team up directly with manufacturers to help provide the best possible solutions to our customers. Some of the services we provide our customers are shown below, but since every customer has different needs, your program would be customized to your requirements.
- IR window installations on new/existing switchgear. These windows allow safe and accurate thermal imaging of the equipment, while power is up and running, eliminating many PPE requirements and shutdowns
- Transformer oil testing, with lab results documented for future comparisons
- Cleaning/re-torqueing of existing equipment, and insulators. This is often an overlooked part of maintenance that causes heat-related failures, dust/dirt related arcing, and build-up of debris in sensitive equipment and control cabinets
- Inspection of connections and application of anti-oxidation materials to minimize corrosion
- Replacement of warranty-related items, while working with equipment manufacturers
- Lubrication of existing service breakers
- Testing of existing breakers/trip mechanisms, and factory tech involvement, if required
- Lighting retrofits, lamp/ballast replacements, assistance in NYSERDA credit requests
- Factory trained technicians for start-up of generators, Variable frequency drives, etc
- Documentation of all work performed, and scheduling of upcoming work
- Meetings with customer as required, in order to address specific concerns, and tailored visits to suit the needs observed
For more info/questions on this important service, please contact Matthew Pfeffer, Service Director Office: 585-413-5850 Mobile: 585-727-9041
mpfeffer@billitierelectric.com