Electrical Cabinet Maintenance

¿Why do you need to do it?

With the passage of time, the equipment and accessories inside an Electrical Cabinet deteriorate until they stop working. Carrying out periodic maintenance on said Cabinets and Control Boards in your plant will guarantee the optimal functioning of your entire electrical and safety system. control, giving 100% availability of equipment for production.

¿What electrical components does an Electrical Control Panel contain?

Within a used electrical panel cabinet there are eight types of electrical components that define and organize the different functions that the panel performs. These components include:

Main circuit breaker or totalizer. Performs the electrical disconnection of the electrical panel, equivalent to that of a main panel that conducts power to a house or office. Miniature circuit breakers handle between 120 V and 480 V in most industrial applications that establish control over circuit components.

Transformers. Depending on the incoming voltage, transformers can step down the voltage to 120V for various components or step down the voltage to 24V in cases where the incoming power is 120V.

Terminal blocks or terminal blocks. These blocks or terminal blocks help organize and distribute the series of cables coming from various sources to different electrical devices.

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). It is essentially a CPU contained within the control panel. This unit is the brain of the control panel and provides monitoring and control of the various mechanical processes. It will include various inputs and outputs to and from mechanized functions of the production equipment.

Relays and contactors. These on/off switches control mechanized functions based on PLC commands. Smaller relays control functions such as lights and fans. Larger relays, called contactors, control more advanced functions, such as motor controllers.

Network switches. Network switches are the communication center of the control panel, facilitating communication between the PLC and the different devices compatible with the network on the production line.

Human-machine interface (HMI). These components allow an operator to monitor or control certain functions of the machinery. Common HMIs include video monitors, joysticks, buttons, switches, and keyboards.

Lightning Rods and Ground Installations. This component prevents lightning or mains surges from damaging the electrical components inside the panel due to a power surge.

All of these components are mounted on a Back Panel or double-bottom, which is a sheet of metal mounted inside the housing that provides structural support for DIN rail mounting and wiring conduits. Metal DIN rails feature standardized dimensions and provide a mounting structure for electrical devices. Wiring ducts provide routing and organization of cables, while assisting in controlling electrical noise between devices within the cabinet.

Scope of our Maintenance

We carry out maintenance of electrical and control panels for multiple industries and applications, such as:

Maintenance of control panels for overhead cranes.

We carry out everything from the maintenance of the maneuver such as motor protectors, contactors, inverters, relays, to the updating or changing of wired controls to Wireless controls, greatly increasing mobility, safety, zero entrapments, zero trips with wired controls.

Maintenance of control panels in water treatment plants.

Potable or industrial water treatment plants are built in different capacities and sizes, installed in large or small cities, in hotels, recreational centers, hospitals, schools, urbanizations, large factories, and in general in those facilities that do not have with drinking water treatment facilities.
The measurement of Flow, Level, Temperature, pH, among other monitoring and control variables in a Water Treatment Plant, end up housed in electrical and control cabinets, connected to analog input or communication modules of the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). and displayed on HMI interfaces (screens) therein. The maintenance of the Control Board is based on keeping each sensor calibrated and scaled, as well as its alarm limit verification, measurement of current consumption and voltage of electrical equipment, adjustment and/or change of its elements in poor condition, cleaning, inspection of breakers, motor guards, contactors, relays, selectors, pilots and terminal blocks. verification of the status of power contactors, variable speed drives, soft starters, in general, control and power components and electrical connections.

Maintenance of Variable Speed Drives

Review, cleaning and evacuation of accumulated dust, dirt, debris, particles in the local atmosphere of the Plant. Inspection and Correction of Insulations.
Reconnection, retightening of terminal blocks and verification of secure connection of cables in Drives, Control and Energy Boards.
Measurement of Amperage, Voltages according to the characteristics and standards of the equipment.

Maintenance of Pumping Systems Control Boards (Residential, Commercial or Industrial).

Maintenance of Control Cabinets that include Display and complete technical solutions that were developed to suit the client’s needs, including Control Cabinets with communication to SCADA Systems.
Verification, correction and calibration of Flow Sensors, Level and other monitoring variables, as well as review, cleaning, adjustment and/or replacement of components in poor condition, of Speed Variators, breakers, motor guards, contactors, relays, selectors, pilots, terminal blocks. Review, parameterization and programming of Industrial Communications Modbus, Profibus, Ethernet, etc. HMI operation screens, Level and Flow Controllers, Programmable Logic Controls (PLC), SCADA Supervisory Control Systems.

Maintenance of Elevator Control Boards

Preventive maintenance of Elevator Control Cabinets helps avoid high replacement costs and increases their useful life.
We offer maintenance plans that include inspection of all components of the Control board, verification of speed changes, parameterization and adjustment of the Speed Variator, to prevent premature wear of it and of the Geared Motors. Verification of correct arrival at the control panel, of digital inputs and outputs of Alarms, Leveling signals, Stop Signals, Door opening and closing signals, Verification of Amperage Consumption and verification of Motor Voltage, securing of terminal blocks, terminals and cables , review of breakers, motor protectors, contactors, relays, communication between equipment or components, review of programming and parameterization of the Control Logic Unit, Cleaning inside the Cabinet.

Maintenance of Control Boards for Breweries, Craft Microbreweries and Liquor Plants

With the high growth of breweries around the world, the incentive to create processes of better quality, productivity and efficiency has increased. Creating smarter systems that reduce losses during the brewing process.

Many breweries around the world use Control Boards to meet their needs, for example, distributed control system (DCS), human machine interface, Human Machine Interface (HMI), motors, drives, highly efficient Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC). , manufacturing execution systems (MES), intelligent production and process software, measurement, analytics, robots and more. This offers brewers tools to understand their processes and a network of allied components that helps them reduce operating costs, begin their digital journey and find new commercial value.

Our solutions and services in Electrical and Control Cabinet Maintenance ensure your brewing operation runs smoothly. Decreasing the risk of future delays, future costly repairs and a negative impact on the quality of your product.

Review of your Clean-in-place (CIP) and pressure washing system, review of correct insulation of the wiring, verification and cleaning of the Motor, power maneuver of the Malta Mill, calibration, review of the Control Cabinet or operation panel, contactors, circuit breakers, Mash Pump and vane drives, heater temperature controllers, Packaging Lines and more.

Calibration, scaling and verification of pH measurement instruments, refractors and dissolved oxygen readers.

More in the Electrical Cabinet. Electrical faults are the main reason for cooling system failures. Faulty wiring can interfere with temperature probes and solenoid valves, causing inadequate cooling. It is necessary to check the inside of the control panel regularly for signs of wear or moisture ingress. Additionally, it is advisable to test the panel frequently, ensuring that the cooling stops and starts correctly.

Maintenance of the electrical cabinet of the packaging and labeling line, verification, correction and calibration of Sensors, as well as review, cleaning, adjustment and/or replacement of components in poor condition, breakers, motor guards, contactors, relays, selectors, pilots, terminal blocks. Review, parameterization and programming of Industrial Communications Modbus, Profibus, Ethernet, etc. HMI operation screens, Programmable Logic Controls (PLC), SCADA Supervisory Control Systems.

Maintenance of Control boards Product preparation plants, Ceramic, Textile Industry

Maintenance of all technology for the preparation of products in the Ceramic Industry. Our solutions and services in the Maintenance of Electrical and Control Cabinets guarantee that your operation runs smoothly. Reduce the risk of future costly repairs and poor product quality.

Review of the correct state of insulation of your wiring, verification, cleaning and calibration of the Power and maneuvers within the Control Cabinets. Review of HMI operation panels, contactors, circuit breakers, inverters, Temperature and Flow controllers and others. Calibration, scaling and verification of pH, Flow, Temperature measurement instruments, among others.

Maintenance of Oven Rooms and Control Boards, Product Preparation Boards, Filter Press Machine Boards, Kneading Boards for Virgin Pasta Products, Control Boards for Drying Products controlled by Electrical Conditioning, Control Boards for Forming Lathes , Control Boards for Automatic Enamelers, Control Boards for Certificates Verification of the Finished Product, such as verification of the Cantilever and other Verifications required by Standard.

Maintenance of Control boards Product preparation plants, Polymeric, Polyester and Fiberglass

Maintenance in explosion plants, or explosive areas. Taking into account the high degree of flammability of the raw materials used for said process, such as Resins and Styrene in large Volumes.

To ensure the production and quality of your product, it is necessary to periodically carry out preventive maintenance on the Control Boards and electrical cabinets, with the necessary protocols and procedures, certifying the quality of the tasks to be performed.

Carry out the work in an orderly manner, monitoring the status of the equipment, developing a routine where all actions taken that are considered appropriate are heard. Documentation is done with dates to detect repetitive failures, if possible, adding actions that have been effective in the past.

Preventive and/or corrective maintenance of electrical panels varies depending on their state of conservation and age. The different tasks will be divided in a way that facilitates recognition according to the needs that arise. The following list does not necessarily imply an order, according to this it is important to take into account the following recommendations:

Check that the electrical or control panel has no visible damage, loose or loose parts.

While powered, check to see if any switches or wires are dissipating more heat than they should.

Remove any dust that has settled and accumulated between the dashboard, cables and switches.

Readjust the connection terminals of existing switches and devices, paying special attention to each component to detect if it has traces of heating. If there is any trace, write it down and later disconnect and/or disassemble it to define the cause of the heating.

Verify that the ground conductor cables are secured, connected correctly, and that there is electrical continuity between the cables and the panel structure.

If there are power elements for switching, dismantle them and see their condition, as well as clean each of the components.

Verify that the electrical conductors are tight and also have electrical continuity with the panel structure.

Clean the furniture with a noble cartridge to remove dust or traces of smoke, sometimes it is normal for there to be traces of “smoke”, it does not mean that there is overheating.

Clean natural ventilation inlets if they exist.

Maintenance of Control Boards in general for different types of Process.

Until the Programming of:

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs).
HMI Screens Programming.
Programming and/or parameterization of Variable Speed Drives.
Process Controller Programming.
Extraction of Diagnostic Buffer from its Controls.

Maintenance Planning

A Preventive Maintenance Plan reduces costs due to unforeseen failures and unbudgeted machinery stops.

Maintenance with Alarm Integration to your Control Panel

Hand in hand with good predictive maintenance, solutions are created such as the integration of new signals or the use of existing digital, analog or communication signals from Power and Sensor equipment to bring faults to the control system (PLC) and deploy Alarms on HMI screens in your plant, identifying problems before they affect the quality of your finished product.

Even before the introduction of the Internet, Industrial machinery has worked with pushbuttons and switches, now human-machine interfaces (HMI) control complete systems, visualize how we interact with machines and collect data for subsequent analysis. Our company has quickly adopted new HMI technology, as long as it remains mounted in an Electrical or Control cabinet and every day there is much more technology to learn and implement in your companies, such as wireless devices, wired devices, remote access. This is why every day we ask ourselves: What other options are available? What could some of these newer options offer? What are we missing? How do we compare them to the traditional HMI?

Diagnosis, renewal and Control

Performing maintenance on Electrical Cabinets, we diagnose problems quickly, and design innovative solutions that reduce costs, optimizing your systems or processes. We transform and update your Electrical and Control Boards, in order to maintain and improve the quality of your product.

Corrective maintenance

To guarantee the availability of your equipment, we provide assistance and correction of faults in your Control Boards, with the supply of spare parts within our reach.

Verification of high temperature points

Verification of critical points, where high temperatures are being found, due to deficiencies in connection points or increased consumption and/or power. Maintenance of Electrical Control Panel, HMI Operation Panels.

¿Pests in Electrical Cabinets?

Periodic maintenance of electrical cabinets, especially cleaning activities, helps to have pest control inside. Review and enclosure options will reduce pest damage to the interior of the electrical controls. Pests such as rats, snakes, and small insects will take over a Control Cabinet because it provides them protection from the weather and predators. Rats/Mice: According to a study conducted by Rentokil: 49% of companies report electrical damage caused by pests. Rats are especially harmful because they chew on electrical cords. Businesses where food is stored or handled are especially prone to rodent invasion. Good sanitation practices are essential. Keeping food tightly closed is very important. Reference: http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/RodentExclusion.asp. Snakes: Snakes often enter electrical boxes in search of food, similar to rats and mice. A snake’s climbing ability makes it easy for them to slide up and down electrical conduits. Once they enter the control box, they are large enough to be shocked by the controls. Once electrocuted, all that will be left will be the snake’s corpse and the electrical controls that no longer work. Ants: According to the Texas Cooperative Extension, College Station, Texas: “Electrical workers should be aware that ants nest in enclosures. What makes them especially dangerous is that they will defend their colony. These defensive acts by ants can become a real physical threat to electrical personnel. Ants also tend to build nests out of soil. Dirt will corrode components and cause control failure. “Ants, like rats, chew on the wires and cause the controls to fail.” https://fireant.tamu.edu/files/2013/02/FAPFS011_2007rev.pdf

Bees and wasps: Bees and wasps find small openings that allow them to enter electrical enclosures. The challenge is how to eliminate them without getting bitten. According to the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University: “Killing a wasp nest is a complicated business. As many of us know, the occupants of these nests tend to resist any attempt to kill them, stinging those who try to do so.

Prevention: To prevent damage to electrical controls, we must ensure that the building or plant, the environment and the controls are safe from pests, with periodic inspections and maintenance. Pests are experts at finding even the smallest openings, regardless of whether the controls are outside or inside your premises.

AUTSOLUTION offers various automation solutions from unit devices to process control in order to effectively operate in industrial environments.