Thursday, April 22, 2010
Baseline Infrared Imagery
Although I strongly believe in scheduling semi-annual or annual infrared thermography scans as part of your maintenance plan, it is helpful to create a baseline scan for all new equipment as well.
What is a baseline scan? A baseline scan provides baseline data for comparision for subsequent infrared scans. It makes it easier and quicker to troubleshoot potential issues and helps spot problems before they become catastrophic. With baseline scan records, trend analysis of motors and bearings can provide an early warning of impending problems.
Your company invests a substantial amount of money into equipment. To get the best return on that investment, it makes sense to keep that equipment at its peak efficiency - and to have the peace of mind to know it is operating that way from the point of installation. Doesn't it make sense to have a baseline scan done of any new equipment?
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
What is a baseline scan? A baseline scan provides baseline data for comparision for subsequent infrared scans. It makes it easier and quicker to troubleshoot potential issues and helps spot problems before they become catastrophic. With baseline scan records, trend analysis of motors and bearings can provide an early warning of impending problems.
Your company invests a substantial amount of money into equipment. To get the best return on that investment, it makes sense to keep that equipment at its peak efficiency - and to have the peace of mind to know it is operating that way from the point of installation. Doesn't it make sense to have a baseline scan done of any new equipment?
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
Labels: business infrared inspections, business thermography, certified thermographers, IR Infrared Services, predictive maintenance inspections, process monitoring program, thermal imaging
Thursday, April 15, 2010
What is an Arc Flash Event?
One of the scariest and most catastrophic events that can happen in any type of building (but especially in a chemical or manufacturing plant) is an Arc Flash Event. Not only can an arc flash cause enormous amounts of damage to equipment, it can cause serious injury or even death.
An Arc flash (or arc blast) is an electrical explosion resulting from a short circuit through air that flashes over from one exposed live conductor to another conductor or to ground.
Arc flash incidents are common and costly, and the frequency of reported accidents is increasing. Each year, arc flash events cause millions of dollars in equipment damage, injuires and deaths. Often times these injuries are caused by shrapnel from the damaged equipment hurtling through the air at over 700 miles per hour.
Infrared scans are able to spot abnormally high operating temperatures and identify them as Critical faults, giving you and your company the opportunity to fix it at a fraction of the cost of an arc flash event - and more importantly - protect the safety of your team.
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
An Arc flash (or arc blast) is an electrical explosion resulting from a short circuit through air that flashes over from one exposed live conductor to another conductor or to ground.
Arc flash incidents are common and costly, and the frequency of reported accidents is increasing. Each year, arc flash events cause millions of dollars in equipment damage, injuires and deaths. Often times these injuries are caused by shrapnel from the damaged equipment hurtling through the air at over 700 miles per hour.
Infrared scans are able to spot abnormally high operating temperatures and identify them as Critical faults, giving you and your company the opportunity to fix it at a fraction of the cost of an arc flash event - and more importantly - protect the safety of your team.
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
Labels: arc flash event, business infrared inspections, IR Infrared Services, predictive maintenance inspections, preventing electrical failure, thermal imaging
Thursday, April 8, 2010
What is Predictive Maintenance?
I talk alot about thermal imaging being part of a predictive maintenance plan. So what exactly is predictive maintenance? What makes it different from preventative maintenance? And lastly, which is more cost effective - predictive maintenance or preventative maintenance?
What is Predictive Maintenance?
Predictive maintenance is a way to evaluate your current equipment to determine its condition so you can predict the optimimum time to perform maintenance. The goal is to perform maintenance when maintenance activity is most cost-effective and before the equipment loses performance within a threshold. Most Predictive Maintenance inspections are done while your equipment is in service so your normal system operations aren't disrupted. Thermal imaging scans are an ideal way to do predictive maintenance on your equipment.
Predictive Maintenance is different from preventative maintenance which is usually performed on a set schedule based on usage statistics or time. Preventative maintenance is done regularly whether it is needed or not.
Preventative Maintenance is labor intensive, ineffective in identifying problems that develop between scheduled inspections, and therefore is not as cost-effective as Predictive Maintenance. On the other hand, since Predictive Maintenance inspections are performed while your equipment is in service, you minimize the disruption of normal system operations as well as labor costs, result in substantial cost savings and higher system reliability.
What is Predictive Maintenance?
Predictive maintenance is a way to evaluate your current equipment to determine its condition so you can predict the optimimum time to perform maintenance. The goal is to perform maintenance when maintenance activity is most cost-effective and before the equipment loses performance within a threshold. Most Predictive Maintenance inspections are done while your equipment is in service so your normal system operations aren't disrupted. Thermal imaging scans are an ideal way to do predictive maintenance on your equipment.
Predictive Maintenance is different from preventative maintenance which is usually performed on a set schedule based on usage statistics or time. Preventative maintenance is done regularly whether it is needed or not.
Preventative Maintenance is labor intensive, ineffective in identifying problems that develop between scheduled inspections, and therefore is not as cost-effective as Predictive Maintenance. On the other hand, since Predictive Maintenance inspections are performed while your equipment is in service, you minimize the disruption of normal system operations as well as labor costs, result in substantial cost savings and higher system reliability.
Infrared thermography is used for the predictive maintenance of mechanical, electrical, and building diagnostic systems. Some specific examples include:
- motors
- pumps
- bearings
- compressors
- conveyor idlers
- loose connections
- corrosion
- load imbalances
Implementing an infrared thermography program as part of your predictive maintenance is easily justified by its ROI.
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
Labels: business infrared inspections, business thermography, commercial thermographers, IR Infrared Services, predictive maintenance inspections, process monitoring program
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Is Infrared Thermography Expensive?
Have you ever put off going to the doctor for a physical because you didn't know how much it would cost? Or avoid having a car mechanic listen to that little ping in the engine? We imagine the expense will be so great that we wait, and then the little issue becomes a really big issue!
Since many consider Infrared Testing of Electrical Equipment to be a preventative measure, they put it off until a really big issue comes up. They might think it's a very expensive test and not economically feasible.
Would it surprise you to learn that the typical inspection cost per day is between $500 and $1050? Once a baseline infrared inspection is done, the frequency of follow-up inspections depends on the number of problems found during the initial survey, and may gradually reduce to once every 3-5 years.
How much can you save on your building insurance with regular infrared inspections? In many cases, the cost of the inspection results in lowered premiums that more than make up for the cost of preventative electrical component testing through infrared inspections.
So don't wait for a little easily fixable issue to turn into a roaring fire costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Find out if a full-service electrical infrared survey is right for your business!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
Since many consider Infrared Testing of Electrical Equipment to be a preventative measure, they put it off until a really big issue comes up. They might think it's a very expensive test and not economically feasible.
Would it surprise you to learn that the typical inspection cost per day is between $500 and $1050? Once a baseline infrared inspection is done, the frequency of follow-up inspections depends on the number of problems found during the initial survey, and may gradually reduce to once every 3-5 years.
How much can you save on your building insurance with regular infrared inspections? In many cases, the cost of the inspection results in lowered premiums that more than make up for the cost of preventative electrical component testing through infrared inspections.
So don't wait for a little easily fixable issue to turn into a roaring fire costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Find out if a full-service electrical infrared survey is right for your business!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thermalimageguy
Labels: business infrared inspections, infrared thermal home inspections, predictive maintenance inspections, preventing electrical failure
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