Substation Maintenance
In Shop/On-site
24 Hr Emergency Service
Switch Repair
Converting thousands of volts of electricity to levels that can be managed by your substation requires seamless interactions between its components. They include switchgear containing transformers, circuit breakers, protective relays and more. Failure in even one element of the system may lead to total collapse.
When switchgear fails, the lights go off and the machinery stops running.
If that happens we will be there to get you back online. Quick!
But . . . ensuring this type of failure never happens is a better route. It requires substation maintenance to test the lineup of its components, repair worn or damaged parts, and alert you to future repairs that may be needed.
Why Switchgear/Substation Maintenance?
- Correct problems and defects on scheduled downtime, not emergency downtime
- Determine areas to address for future repair
- Avoid catastrophic and very expensive failures
The Basics of Switchgear and Substation Maintenance
Cleaning and testing: Low-voltage circuit breakers, high-voltage circuit breakers, relays, switches, motor control centers and transformers can be cleaned and tested during a planned outage at your facility, or in our shop.
Thermal scanning: This type of test is often done preceding the planned outage. At that time we can pinpoint possible problem areas for repair. 24-hour service is available to meet time constraints.
Basic troubleshooting: Troubleshoot and correct substation problems ranging from nuisance tripping of circuit breakers to total failure of equipment.
Power Monitoring Instrumentation data: Analysis of data recorded with our Power Monitoring Instrumentation can pinpoint hard-to-find defects.
Panel repair or replacement: Existing panels can be repaired or new panels can be built from scratch.
Parts: Motor starters, circuit breakers, disconnects, fuses, and other items are stocked in our warehouse. If we don’t have what you need, we’ll find it using our network of surplus equipment dealers.
Transformer Repair
If your transformer is not functioning properly, there are several things that might be causing the issue. The list below contains the types of tests and procedures we perform during transformer repair:
- Thorough inspection
- Turn to turn ratio testing – The transformer turns ratio (TTR) test reveals shorted turns and/or open-circuit conditions.
- Rewinding
- Bus repair or replacement
- Polarization Index testing
- Hi-Potential testing
- Power Factor Dissipation Testing – Transformers that have had years of use bring the risk of exposure to dirt and moisture, which lead to the formation of conducted paths leaking electric current. The goal of these tests is to ensure the tested transformer has not been affected by these factors, evidenced by maintaining its tan delta ratio.
- Oil Collection for testing
Industrial Circuit Breaker Repair
Circuit breakers are often the culprit when things go wrong with switchgear. Their role in controlling the flow of electricity is a primary one for the safety of you and your equipment.
Spina Enterprises’ technicians are highly experienced in industrial circuit breaker repair, performing everything from contact cleaning and relubrication to retrofitting older breakers with solid-state trips. Our industrial circuit breaker repair processes include:
Primary Injection Testing (In Shop and On-Site): Tests the breaker to make sure it trips within the Manufacturer’s parameters. If it does not trip when necessary, Current (or Power) will go through the line when it shouldn’t and possibly damage something else. When a breaker is working properly it opens the circuit to prevent this from happening.
Retrofitting breakers: In this process, old or defective trip units in the breaker are replaced with solid-state trips, state-of-the-art trip units, and arc flash-compliant devices. This is normally done in-shop. This is also why we have developed a strong used equipment network. When a breaker issue is suspected in your unit, we try to provide a spare so as soon as possible. Your breaker can be changed out and you’ll get back valuable production time while your own breaker is being repaired.
By retrofitting an older breaker, you’ll get additional performance, safety and security at a much more reasonable cost when comparing it to a complete system upgrade.
Relubricating is one of the most important switchgear maintenance tasks since lack of lubrication is a key problem we find when servicing units. Our skilled technicians know the right amount of lubricant to use and the critical lubrication points where it is needed.
Contact cleaning requires the proper cleaning method, solvent, and dry time for the type of contamination. Accumulated dirt, oil or grease is important to remove to prevent corrosion and future damage.
Reconditioning involves complete inspection, documentation, disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, testing and ongoing tracking. When disassembly is not practical, it may be necessary to replace the component with a new or reconditioned one.
Industrial Circuit Breaker Manufacturers Serviced
- ABB
- Cutler-Hammer
- Federal Pacific
- General Electric
- ITE
- Siemens-Allis
- Square D
- Westinghouse
Substation maintenance is a critical process to keep your operation running smoothly and efficiently. During the maintenance process, industrial circuit breaker repair, transformer repair or other switchgear component repair may be necessary.
To perform any of these services, you want to work with a company that provides the highest quality services and products to meet your needs and one that is dependable 24×7. This is Spina Enterprises.
