From flickering lights to overloaded outlets, electric wiring problems can be both a nuisance and a hazard in industrial electric applications. If you’re dealing with faulty wiring, you must understand the source of the trouble to know how to fix the issue safely. Before that, let’s discuss some of the most common problems with industrial and commercial electrical wiring that might have hindered your operations – so next time you’ll know if you already need professional help.
Common Problems Found in Industrial Electric Wiring
As the owner or manager of your facility, it’s best to know the signs of your electric wiring problem so you can address it immediately. Some of the most common issues include:
Power Surges
The most common problem in faulty electrical wiring is power surges. It may be caused by multiple sources, such as:
Lightning strikes
Equipment malfunctions
Power surges
The best way to prevent power surges from happening is to ensure all electric circuits are properly grounded. One useful tip is to always unplug your equipment after a power surge and have an electrician inspect it for damages.
Open Circuits
Another common electrical wiring issue is open circuits, which may happen due to a piece of equipment not receiving the adequate voltage to power it. It will lead to part or the entire circuit shutting down. Fortunately, it can be easily recognized by a qualified electrician. One of the leading causes is a loose terminal or connection. This is an area of concern because it can result in the conductors overheating and or sparking, which can result in a fire. A great way to determine if a circuit has a loose connection is by having a licensed electrical contractor perform an infrared study, which involves the use of an IR camera. At which the contractor would take thermal images of the panelboard and terminals to measure the heat generated, which can indicate whether an issue exists.
Overloaded Circuits
Overloading a circuit is a direct result of either the circuit was not sized properly to begin with or in many cases over the course of time things were added onto that circuit, which resulted in the load exceeding the circuit size.
You can avoid overloading the circuit by distributing each electrical load evenly across multiple circuits. Prior to doing so, you should identify all loads being fed from that circuit and their respective power consumption.
Short Circuits
Short circuits are often confused with open circuits, however, they are not the same. A short circuit is a result of either the ungrounded conductor coming in contact with either a grounded surface/conductor or with another ungrounded conductor. This causes an excess in current flow through the power source which can lead to expensive repairs and or extended downtime, resulting in a loss of production. In most cases, until the fault has been cleared, the overcurrent protection device will not reset.
Mechanical Failure
Mechanical failures are in many cases the result of not performing preventative maintenance (PM) on the equipment. Other factors that might cause this are:
Wear and tear
Nearing its end of life
Improper maintenance
Power surges
Excessive heat and corrosion
These elements play a role which can cause your equipment to fail. It can result in lost profits due to downtimes, expensive replacements, and lost productivity. Since pinpointing the issue can be difficult and time consuming, it’s best to prevent this from happening through a regular preventative maintenance schedule.
Be Prepared by Identifying Common Industrial Electric Issues
Safeguard your facility or business from potential safety hazards by knowing the common problems mentioned above. If you notice any of these signs, never hesitate to call for professional assistance to prevent further complications and ensure the safety of your operations.
Marshall Industrial Technologies specializes in installing, maintaining, and repairing electrical wiring in industrial, commercial, institutional, and government sectors. We also offer HVAC repair in New Jersey so you can rely on us for all your facility’s needs. Contact us today to learn more about our services; you can also request a quote to receive a cost-effective solution!
Marshall Teams up with Hunt The Front again in 2022 at Bristol! We are psyched! We are back on the side of the #10 Hunt the Front Super Late Model again in 2022. The team has stepped up a class and will be racing against the best dirt track drivers in the country at Bristol Motor Speedway for four separate Main Events March 26, 26 and April 1 and 2. Goood luck Joseph!!! Check them out on Youtube or on the web!
Your industrial plant is full of finely-tuned equipment and systems, and your production rate and the safety of your employees depend upon smooth, reliable operations. An effective plant maintenance program is how you ensure that no surprises threaten production. Rather than waiting until a small problem turns into a costly repair, regular maintenance can keep everything running optimally, promoting a long service life for your equipment, reducing unexpected downtime, and protecting workers from potentially dangerous malfunctions.
What Is Plant Maintenance?
A maintenance program keeps your equipment in top working condition. By keeping your machines clean and appropriately lubricated and replacing parts when they start to become worn out (instead of waiting for them to fail), your systems operate more efficiently and are less likely to break down. Regular service also allows you to identify and correct small issues before they cause major problems.
Preventative Maintenance: This is regular service performed at designated time intervals. That could be monthly, or it could be based on the number of repetitions a machine performs or the number of hours it’s in operation. It’s designed to ensure the equipment continues to run smoothly and to avoid unexpected breakdowns.
Predictive Maintenance: With this approach, machine performance indicates when it’s time to schedule maintenance. It typically requires software and other technology, like vibration analyzers or pressure and temperature gauges, to help you monitor the equipment and determine when it’s at risk of malfunction. While preventative maintenance happens on a regular basis, predictive maintenance occurs as needed.
Each type has its place in certain applications, and some facilities may implement both approaches to best serve their equipment and their business. In both cases, some scheduled downtime may be required. While predictive maintenance is more expensive than preventive maintenance, it occurs less often, so the reduced scheduled downtime may help you save money over time.
Plant Maintenance Neglect and Effects
Some companies avoid performing maintenance because of the cost, falsely believing that a reduction in maintenance costs can help their bottom line. Unfortunately, neglecting plant maintenance can cost you far more in the long run.
Broken Equipment: If your equipment breaks down, you’re facing hours or even days of lost production while you wait to get it fixed. Meanwhile, you’re paying employees a skilled wage to do tasks that would normally be beneath their pay grade, just to keep them busy. Purchasing a replacement part is often more costly than simply maintaining the parts you have.
Increased Operational Costs: Putting resources toward repairs results in higher overhead, lost work hours, and rescheduling hassles. You may also have to pay more to expedite shipping for a customer whose order was delayed, for example. Poorly maintained equipment doesn’t operate as well, which could increase your energy usage.
Production Management Challenges: When you get behind schedule, how do you prioritize your clients? How do you get back on track? You may have to pay employees overtime to make up for the lost downtime.
Poor Customer Relationships: Everyone is on a deadline, and when your client fails to receive their order on time, they fall behind with their own customers. You’ll have to spend time and money repairing those relationships, or you may lose the client to a competitor.
Plant Maintenance Services with Marshall Industrial Technologies
Since 1951, Marshall Industrial Technologies has been your go-to source for equipment installation, machinery repair, electrical work, and plant maintenance. Our maintenance department manages routine, spot, and emergency maintenance, including services like instrumentation and process controls, millwright services, mechanical and electrical maintenance, pump maintenance, preventive HVAC maintenance, and both predictive and preventative machinery maintenance.
Through the years, we’ve helped countless clients save time and improve their bottom line with expert plant maintenance plans. Contact us to learn more about our full range of services, or request a quote for your customized maintenance program.
We are proud to offer you a single source for process piping installation, modification, maintenance and repair.
Our Specialty Piping Group specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of austenitic sanitary and high-purity process piping systems.
· System design and project management
· Complete piping system fabrication and installation
· Mechanical and electrical installation
· Instrumentation
· Systems integration
· Inspection, documentation and validation
Industrial facilities of all kinds rely on process piping to move fluid, gas, and fine particulate matter. Process piping refers to the interconnected system of pipes or tubes that transport materials within and throughout a facility. Process piping systems may be simple and limited in scope, or they may be extensive and intricate, depending on the application. As such, it’s important to work with an experienced process piping supplier who can negotiate the many variables involved in process piping design.
As a turnkey service provider, Marshall Industrial Technologies specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of austenitic sanitary and high-purity process piping systems. We support clients from design through installation to provide personalized, high-performance process piping across diverse industries and applications.
Marshall provides high quality machining services to plants and facilities throughout the Northeast – some within our 30,000 sf machine shop but alot is done with our full suite of portable machining equipment. If it’s too big to move, our expert machinists will get the job done when and where you need it. We offer portable machine shop expertise.
We are your Northeast equipment installation experts. When looking for someone to install your equipment or supplement your installation team, some things are non-negotiable.
Experience. Precision. Accountability.
Partnering with Marshall Industrial Technologies will provide the peace of mind of knowing that your equipment will be installed exactly to you and your customer’s specifications.
For more than 70 years, we have provided equipment manufacturers with turnkey equipment installation from single machines to entire production lines. We can provide:
Electrial
Millwrighting
Mechanical
Piping
If you or your customers have an upcoming installation in the Northeast, let’s talk.
From time to time, we here at Marshall find it beneficial to stretch our legs and unwind. Recently, we decided to go dirt car racing with our friends at Hunt The Front racing! They are a fine match for our hard-working values and family-centered vibe (and pretty fast on the track!) so we signed on to help them cut through the pack and see what they could do. Thus far it’s been a wild ride and we’re proud be a part of their success! Check them out on the track or through their wildly successful YouTube videos and go visit their site at www.huntthefront.net.
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