QENM3-015

Carrying out Preventative Planned

Maintenance on Electrical Equipment
By Jordan Leah

1. Before I begin the preparation and tidying of my work area I must

firstly perform some inspections of the area to make sure it’s safe to
start working in the area. For this I have a checklist I complete before
commencing to the area. First I will visually inspect the area to ensure no
dangerous objects are in the area. These could include bare electrical
wires, moving objects and unstable objects. Then I will visually inspect
the condition of the floor to ensure no slip or trip hazards are in the
work area. I will also use a multimeter to ensure that none of the wires I
am coming into contact with are dangerously live.

2. Isolation and lock-out procedures are required in the workplace by

everyone to ensure that testing activities on circuits can be carried out
safely. Isolation can be done either by turning an isolation switch or by
flicking a circuit breaker inside an electrical panel, the circuit can be
separated on older electrical boards removing cartridge fuses. It is
important to lock the circuit off so that no one can turn it back on or, if
the fuses are removed, ensure that they are placed away from the board
in a safe place so that they are not replaced, this can be done by
inserting a padlock into the hole in the isolator switch and closing it
when the switch is turned off. This must be done correctly so a permit to
work can be properly filled out.
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3. The health and safety precautions of the area in which the planned
maintenance is to take place will involve checking that all safety,
environmental and physical risks have been assessed. Before
maintenance can take a place we must make sure that a take 2 sheet has
been filled out and the piece of equipment has been isolated and locked
off to prevent electric shock. It is also important to let the kiln supervisor
know where you are working as he controls all the plant and the plant
around the worker as you don’t want a conveyor above you starting and
covering you in dust.

4. When carrying out the planned maintenance activities it is important

to ensure the correct PPE is worn, this includes safety boots to protect
the feet from falling objects, flame retardant overalls also protect the
arms from electric shock, helmet to protect the head from falling object
and goggles to protect the eyes from dust. It is also important to know
the circuit you are working on is dead or disconnected when working on
its live components so the correct procedure is to isolate and lock it off.

5. It is important to recognize someone who has suffered from electric

shock in order to protect yourself and the victim’s wellbeing. The main
symptom of a victim who has received a severe electric shock is usually
white or very pale blue skin. The victim may also have a weak or absent
pulse, burned skin and stiffness of the body. Before you administer first
aid you must ensure the victim is no longer in contact with the power
source, or if they are turn the power source off and remove them from
danger, when it is safe to do so call for help then start CPR.
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6. When carrying out the planned maintenance activities, harm can be

caused to any person when they are exposed to live parts of an electrical
circuit that are either touched directly or indirectly by a conducting
object or material. Voltages over 50 volts AC or 120 volts DC are
considered hazardous. The safest way of avoiding electrical shock is to
isolate the source of power to ensure even if a live terminal is touched it
can’t be dangerous. Harm can also be caused by misusing electrical
tools, this can be such as incorrectly using a multimeter or using non-
electrically insulated screwdrivers on live terminals. These hazards can
be minimized with proper training when around electrical equipment.

7. To obtain a documents and drawings it is important to have it saved to

a local drive on a computer and have it printed out in a labelled folder.
The best way to find previously unseen documentation is to use the
internet, when performing a search for the specific document such as a
manufacturer’s manual or an electrical drawing. When searching for the
document it is important to use short precise search words that are
most important to the document required. And when the file is found it
is important to save it in an easily accessible place to be able to use it
easily the next time it is needed.

8. The maintenance schedules that are given to the electrician carrying

out the maintenance include details of where the equipment is, what it
is, when it came offline and details of the issue found. When carrying out
the maintenance activities we follow safe operating procedures, for
example filling the take 2 assessment prior to starting the work. Often
another worker may be set on the job for either training purposes or for
an extra set of hands as they may have worked on something similar and
together you can come to a conclusion and get the equipment running
again.
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9. Each piece of equipment and circuit have their own individual

operation that is aimed to be carried out, for example a conveyor needs
a motor to turn the rollers which is controlled by either a start button or
a input from the PLC. An isolator is used on a circuit to break the circuit if
work is being carried out to keep the person carrying out the
maintenance safe.

10. There are many different cables used for many different applications in
the electrical industry, there is Steel wire armoured cable (SWA), SY
cable, single stranded cable, twin and earth cable, Cat 5 cable, and many
more. SWA cable is constructed with multiple cores in the centre and
protected by 2 layers of plastic insulation and steel strands of metal
outside it, this steel prevents the cores inside from becoming damaged
as they are usually carrying high loads, SWA cables use the steel
protections as an extra earthing mechanism also by the use of a copper
gland attached to the appliance, this has an earthing lug attached to it
that is terminated in the application, this will help protect the cable
electrically and mechanically. Single stranded cable is just 1 core of cable
that is usually fed through trunking in circuits and is covered in different
coloured insulation to symbolize what the cable is doing. Twin and earth
cable is used in domestic electrical builds; this involves 1 line wire, 1
neutral wire and an unprotected earth wire.

11. There are many different types of motors such as squirrel cage motors,
inductive motors, single phase motors and three phase motors just to
name a few. Squirrel cage motors are most common here and they can
be ran on either 2 or 3 phases. They are either wired in star or delta and
require an electrical starter which is usually either a contactor or an
inverter if it wishes to be variable speed.
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12. Control systems consist of open loop and closed loop systems. The
control action from the controller depends on the desired and actual
process parameter in a closed-loop control system. In the case of the
oven, it would use a thermostat to regulate the temperature of the oven
and feed a signal back to ensure that the temperature of the oven is
maintained by the controller output to that set on the thermostat. The
control action of the controller is independent of the process variable in
an open-loop control system. An example of this is a timer-controlled
oven burner in a plastic injection moulding machine. The control action
is to turn the oven on or off. The variable of the process is the
temperature of the oven. This controller applies heat for a constant
duration irrespective of the oven temperature.

13. An electrical component used in maintenance and its application

would be a switch, these can be used to stop or start a circuit depending
on if it’s a normally open contact or a normally closed contact. They are
mainly used on production equipment for example a start/stop circuit on
a conveyor belt. Another component we use would be junction boxes
and they allow a circuit to branch off in many different ways, junction
boxes are usually wired into with a source wire to allow the circuit to
run, and then a range of wires and circuits can be connected to the
circuit in order to create more circuits joined on to one common power
source.

14. Fluorescent lights are most commonly used to light up the workplace;
this involves a light fitting with a starter in it with fluorescent stripped
lamps in the fitting to illuminate the area. The lamp works by taking in
AC current from the supply straight into the ballast which steps down
the AC to a suitable voltage to use for its self, it then uses the electrical
starter to ignite its self.
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15. Wiring enclosures that are used are there to secure the cables where
they are protected from damage, when used correctly, enclosure
systems always look neater and more professional. Including metal and
plastic conduit, tray work and trunking systems. The conduit is small and
usually circular, it can hold a number of cables and can be shaped and
bended to fit the shape of the area it is installed in. Conduit systems are
often laid to involve junction boxes where cables can be connected and
power can be transferred to many different places. Tray work is another
type of enclosure system, and this is used to hold thick SWA cables most
commonly, tray work is a thin and wide piece with holes in it for the
cables to be cable tied in, this will keep the cables neat and safe from
damages.

16. Components used for maintenance activities must be deemed fit for
purpose, this means checking they are the correct specification for the
application they are being used for, for a component to be fit for
purpose it must meet certain criteria, such as voltage ratings, current
ratings, resistance ratings, size dimensions, and standards linking to the
specific component. All of these details will be named in a datasheet
that will be supplied with the product; also they will be detailed on the
nameplate or a sticker on the product. When carrying out mechanical
maintenance if a component has lifed then it has come apart from its
surface that it is attached to, if this happens to a seal or a gasket then
this could cause leakages in applications transferring fluids, or it can
allow contaminated objects and substances in which can cause the
insides to become damaged for example a joint box or an isolator.
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17. Sensory checks on pieces of equipment use the senses of the body,
these can include sight, smell, touch and sound. It is easy to see when an
electrical component or circuit has failed because there is usually a
brown burnt mark around the affected area where the electricity has
arced over to the earthing point. Smell is a commonly used technique
when fault finding motor related equipment, when motors fail they give
off a foul smell that can be easily recognised as faulty. Touch is used less
commonly in electrical testing due to the dangerous nature of going
near electrical contacts.

18. It is always procedure to make sure components meet the

requirements for the applications for which they are needed. Such
checks may include physical inspections such as size and weight, as well
as mechanical inspections such as movement and location of holes for
mounting. Electrical components must comply with specifications to fit
the application for which they are required, these specifications include:
voltage ratings, current ratings, power ratings, working temperature
ranges and tolerances away from these set values.

19. There are a few different categories that planned maintenance fall
into. Firstly there’s condition-based maintenance (CBM), which is a
maintenance strategy that monitors the actual condition of an asset to
decide what maintenance needs to be done. CBM dictates that
maintenance should only be performed when certain indicators show
signs of decreasing performance or upcoming failure. For example a seal
starting to show signs of wear or slight leaks. Another would be
scheduled maintenance, which is any task that is given a deadline and
assigned to a technician. It can either be a recurring task done at regular
intervals or a one-time task. Scheduled maintenance includes
inspections, adjustments, regular service, and planned shutdowns. An
example would be maintenance checks on all the motors every 6
months.
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20. When consumables are required for the maintenance activity I will
write a list down of all the parts and components I need and will take it
to the stores and sign out everything available that I can. Most stuff can
be found on the shelf but if it’s a specific component that we don’t keep
spares of I will try and acquire the component from one of our local
electrical dealers. Most of the time they have them however if this is not
the case then they will order them in and then send them straight up to
the job and I will be notified when they arrive. All consumables used and
parts that needed replacing will be detailed in the job report when the
job is done and handed back over to production.

21. When testing on a maintenance activity the most common technique

id use would be the half-splitting method. The logic behind this approach
is simple. With every step in the process, the trouble-shooter eliminates
half the circuit as the cause of the problem. Using this philosophy, the
first action item might be as simple as asking a question or taking a
voltage or resistance measurement with a multimeter. You will then
work your way round the circuit to pinpoint the fault.

22. When compiling maintenance reports and records our company policy
is sign and date everything. Once it’s ready to be filed we place them in
number of the piece of equipment and then place them into different
folders/draws for each plant e.g. Hydrate plant and Sorbacal plant. This
is to keep everything organised and it also makes the job a lot easier if
any documents need to be obtained in the future.

23. Before carrying out the maintenance on the equipment or machine its
important to check with the kiln supervisor if he has that plant running
and make sure its free to work on. This is important as all the elevators
and conveyors work in a series with eachother so damage may be
caused by going straight to the machine and knocking it off. They will
also be able to tell you if anyone else is working in that area that may
affect the maintenance being carried out. Before starting the job we will
isolate and lock off all the power to the machine and fill out a risk
assessment of the area.
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24. There is lots of different problems that can occur in maintenance

activities, these involve inaccurate readings when fault diagnosing, not
marking up items when removing them, not reading manuals before
replacing components, and diagnosing incorrect parts. When an
inaccurate reading is taken in maintenance activities this can cause a
problem with misdiagnosing the faulty component, this can cause a
component that was already working to be changed and the fault will
still be present. Not marking items or taking pictures of them before
replacing them will cause problems because when it comes to replacing
them with new parts the maintenance operative will be unsure which
cables go where, or which parts fit in a certain orientation, an easy
solution to this problem is to mark cables and parts and take pictures of
them to ensure the task can be completed correctly.

25. The organisational procedure for all waste materials that may be
hazardous to the health of users and those around them is covered by
the COSHH regulations (control of substances hazardous to health), in
these regulations it is outlined that certain substances that may be
waste must be disposed of safely and by trained and certified people
that have been certified safe to handle the substances. For example at
my workplace, waste oil is contained in barrels and an oil safe worker
comes and takes the oil away for us in order for it to be dealt with safely.

26. My authority and role as an apprentice electrician allows me to

participate, often under the supervision of a fully qualified colleague, in
work activities. On most jobs, this is the case unless I have a simpler task
to undertake that I can complete myself. If I had any issues with a job
that I was doing myself, I would report to my manager who would show
me and walk me through the solution so I know for next time.