Preventative maintenance on air circuit breakers.

ACB onsite maintenance is at the heart of extending the useful working life of your critical safety devices.

Why is it important to service & maintain your air circuit breakers?

In the event of a fault, air circuit breakers are a vital method of protection against overcurrents and short circuit disconnections. They are there to ensure your electrical systems stay stable and reliable. Therefore, it is crucial that they are maintained and always in good working order.

Air circuit breakers are the cause of almost 20% of power distribution system failures and in many cases, this is due to a simple lack of maintenance. Dust, hardened grease, and corrosion will create nuisance tripping and failure to close again. For industries that operate at high voltage or power supply, it is important to protect machinery from overflows of current. Sudden high voltage surges can cause considerable damage to the overall performance of the plant. As with all electro-mechanical devices, electrical equipment manufacturers recommend regular maintenance of your air circuit breakers to ensure they can operate properly and to keep your equipment warranties and insurance valid. Regular servicing can prolong the life of your air circuit breakers, so they rarely need to be replaced. Most importantly, by servicing air circuit breakers regularly you can reduce any downtime and improve your equipment’s reliability because damaged or worn components can be identified before they fail. We have seen many instances where dirt on busbars and loose connections can cause noise, excessive heat, and ultimately system failure due to lack of maintenance.

What faults can occur with Air Circuit Breakers?

Faults in Air Circuit Breakers arise mainly due to a lack of maintenance, dust, hardened grease, corrosion, or frozen parts that prevent the proper operation of the trip linkage. Common faults we find with air circuit breakers are failure to turn on or off, not charging up or resetting, or not tripping off as required. Other problems include the breaker not staying closed when turned on and erratic or nuisance tripping of the breaker.

Why Northern Switchgear Maintenance Solutions, how can we help?

We know that every site and ACB is different, so our first step will be to discuss your needs. We will then create a service schedule that suits you and your site. The schedule depends on the environment your ACBs operate in, and how often they are utilised. Too little use causes as much need for maintenance as excessive use. A Northern Switchgear Maintenance Solutions service plan enables us to service your Air Circuit Breakers on site. Fixed-type ACBs can be serviced, but the supply to both sides of the ACB needs to be fully isolated. The withdrawable type ACBs can be removed from the switchboard and placed on a bench away from the switchboard to complete a full maintenance procedure. During the service, we disassemble certain elements of the ACB to allow inspection, lubrication, repair, and testing. We have a broad range of specialised secondary injection equipment to enable us to test the operation of the ACBs’ electronic trip units and their parameters. Northern Switchgear Maintenance Solutions can offer a safe & comprehensive maintenance solution with qualified engineers who will test & certify the equipment at a time that suits an individual client’s operations.