CHAPTER 20

MAINTENANCE
 • An effective and efficient maintenance program for substation equipment includes
scheduled periodic maintenance as well as corrective procedures that address
specific equipment-related problems.

GENERAL
• Periodic or time interval-based maintenance procedures, more commonly referred to
as preventive maintenance, are developed and instituted in an attempt to minimize
unscheduled service interruptions. The degree of success of such procedures is
generally reflected by the cooperative’s ability to balance system reliability with
accepted levels of risk of failure or system outage.
• Periodic maintenance procedures are generally performed in conjunction with
normally scheduled inspection and testing programs, which are outlined in Chapters
18, Inspection, and 19, Tests.
• Specific details for the performance of periodic maintenance vary considerably
depending on the make, model, age, load profile, etc. of the specific equipment. In
addition, a maintenance program developed for substation equipment should
consider site environmental conditions, site location and access, and priority of the
substation equipment to overall system reliability.
Records
• Maintain a record of inspection and test results that indicate the condition of equipment
and the maintenance history, as outlined in Chapter 18, Inspection, in an electronic
database. In addition to the details contained therein, include at least the following
information in these records:
• 1. A description or outline of the basis for the specific maintenance program
• 2. The date when maintenance was performed and the latest date when it should
again be performed
• 3. The condition of the equipment after the inspection or maintenance
• 4. Any requirements for special follow-up work
Safety
• Certain maintenance procedures may be performed with the equipment in service while
other procedures require that the equipment be de-energized. Scheduled outages closely
coordinated with power plant or transmission line maintenance quite frequently afford the
best opportunity for maintenance. When it is necessary to remove a piece of equipment
from service without de-energizing the total substation, maintain minimum safety
clearances as specified in Chapter 18. Install temporary barriers to isolate the equipment
being worked on from adjacent energized equipment.
PERIODIC MAINTENANCE
• Periodic maintenance programs should consider original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM)
recommendations with respect to details of the maintenance performed and to its
frequency. OEM recommendations for maintenance are typically conservative.
Cooperatives should look for ways to perform equipment maintenance based on actual
conditions. A study of all industries shows that overly conservative maintenance based on
OEM recommendations can lead to more failures of equipment that might otherwise be
functional. Common maintenance procedures and their frequencies are indicated in Table
20-l.
Specific Requirements
• In addition to those items of maintenance listed in Table 20-l, the following maintenance
tasks should be performed at the time regular visual inspections are made:
• 1. Eliminate any low spots that have developed in the substation yard.
• 2. Remove trash from the area.
• 3. Replace all burned-out lamps.
• 4. Remove bird nests and other items from the vicinity of energized parts.
• 5. Clean and refinish defects in paint and galvanizing.
• 6. Periodically remove vegetation. If chemical application for removal of vegetation
is required, consult the local farm extension agency or governing authority for proper
methods and chemicals.
Painting
• Periodically, depending on the geographic location, local environment, etc., equipment,
fences, and structures have to be repainted. The following should be considered as
minimum requirements:
Equipment and Other Painted Items
• a. Thoroughly remove all loose paint, blisters, and scale. Where the condition of the
finish is poor remove the paint entirely. Wire brushing, sand papering, or scraping is
desirable where only partial surface cleaning is necessary. Paint removers will
soften and aid in removal. However, neutralize the paint remover before attempting
to paint. For removal of oil and dirt, use weak solvents such as mineral spirits, other
petroleum thinners, or turpentine substitutes.
• b. Paint as soon as possible after cleaning. Cover all bare metal with a primer.
Where only chalking has occurred, one finish coat is sufficient. Primer and finish
paints may be obtained from most equipment manufacturers and sometimes from
local sources. A zinc chromate alkyd resin primer followed by an alkyd base paint is
a suitable air-dry combination for exterior surfaces. Allow the primer coat to air-dry
thoroughly and follow it with two finish coats with sufficient time allowed between
coats for drying
Galvanized Structures and Fences
• The protective coating produced by the galvanizing process is normally a long-lived coating;
however, the coating will eventually fail and rust will appear. It has been observed that Class II
hot-dipped galvanizing on chain link fences in rural locations will normally furnish adequate
protection for many years. The life of the coating on structural steel used in substations should
generally be longer than 12 years, except possibly for upper flat surfaces of horizontal
members. Any failure of the coating will usually occur in spots rather than over an entire
surface. The following procedure is recommended:
• a. Clean the surface with a wire brush or by other mechanical means to remove rust and
dirt. If the surface is contaminated with grease or oil, use a solvent to remove those
contaminants. Mineral spirits or a weak solution of trisodium phosphate can be used as the
solvent. A solution of 1 ounce of trisodium phosphate to 1 gallon of warm water is
suggested for cleaning the metal. In the event that it is uneconomical or impractical to
remove all rust, a reasonably satisfactory job can be obtained by deactivating the rust
through chemical treatment. A weak solution of phosphoric acid is suggested for
deactivating rust. Use proper skin and eye protection.
• b. Apply a priming coat to the clear dry surface using a good zinc dust–zinc oxide paint.
Allow ample time for the paint to dry before applying the finish coats.
• c. Apply two finish coats using the same type of paint as was used for priming. Allow
ample drying time between finish coats. One finish coat is needed for areas on which the
galvanized coating remains intact. The color of the paint is gray, but colors in oil may be
added to the finish coats to obtain other shades. Other paints normally used as final coats
for metal (such as aluminum paint) may be used as the final coat in place of the zinc dust–
zinc oxide paint.
• It is recommended that painting of outdoor metal work be done only when the temperature
is above 7.2°C (45°F) and when the relative humidity is below 80 percent.
• The durability of paint coating depends on thickness, cohesion, and continuity. Generally
5 mils (0.005 inch) is an adequate thickness. The thickness should be uniform, and paint
should not be easily scraped off the metal. Pay particular attention to welds, edges, and
other hard-to-coat areas.

UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
• Any abnormal conditions that are noted during any inspection of the substation yard or
equipment may need to be corrected as soon as possible, depending on the severity of
the condition. In some cases, the equipment has to be removed from service prior to
beginning maintenance. Some abnormal conditions and possible corrective measures
may include the following:
• 1.Loose or Corroded Connections. Tighten or replace, depending on condition.
• 2. Contaminated Bushings. Clean all exposed surfaces, including casing, porcelain, and
oil gauges.
• 3. Leaking or Damaged Bushings. Repair or replace.
• 4. Deteriorated Insulating Oil. Recondition or reclaim depending on situation (see IEEE
Std. C57.106 and Chapter 19 of this bulletin).
• 5. Low Pressure of Inert Gas Cushion. Replace gas cylinder if required and check gas
system for leaks, etc.
• 6. Pressure Relief Device Operated. Reset device and determine cause for operation.
• 7. Oil Leaks. Repair, tighten, weld, etc., as required.
• 8. Sludge or Carbon Deposits in Tank. Remove deposits and clean. Determine cause for
deposit, i.e., deteriorated oil, internal faults, etc.
• 9. Damaged Items. These include:
• a. Damaged potheads, high-voltage cable, porcelain (bushings, surge arresters,
insulators, etc.), and other items subject to high electric stress.
• b. Failing capacitors, as evidenced by insulating fluid leaks around bushings or
bases, bulging tanks, blown fuses on individual units or groups of units, etc.
• It may be necessary to de-magnetize the core in current transformers if they have been
subjected to very high magnitude currents that have resulted in saturating the core.
Modern high-accuracy current transformers show relatively little change in accuracy as a
result of magnetization.
RELIABILITY-CENTERED MAINTENANCE
• As equipment in substations deteriorates and degrades over time, the probability of
service interruptions as a result of component failure is increasing at the very time that
competitive pressures demand higher levels of power quality and reliability. Some utilities
are working to proactively address these issues by implementing a condition-based,
predictive substation maintenance program using the concepts of reliability-centered
maintenance.
• Reliability is defined as the probability that a system will perform a given function
satisfactorily for a specified time under specified operating conditions.
• The fundamental goals of reliability-centered maintenance are to preserve the function or
operation of a system and to schedule all preventive maintenance tasks. The system
function that has to be preserved in substations is the delivery of safe, reliable electric
power to customers.
There are four fundamental principles of pure reliability-centered maintenance theory:
• 1. The primary objective of reliability-centered maintenance is to preserve system
function.
• 2. A good reliability-centered maintenance program should identify specific failure modes
to define loss of function or functional failure.
• 3. A reliability-centered maintenance program should prioritize the importance of the
failure modes.
• 4. A reliability-centered maintenance program should identify effective and applicable
preventive maintenance tasks.
Methods
• A reliability-centered maintenance program may be used to identify the appropriate
application of the four traditional methods of asset maintenance performed today. The
four methods of equipment maintenance are corrective, preventive, proactive, and
predictive.
• Corrective maintenance is a reactive form of maintenance that uses a system failure as a
signal to perform a repair task. For non-critical components or components that do not
permit cost-effective maintenance, corrective maintenance is acceptable
• Preventive maintenance is a time interval- or usage rate-based maintenance method.
Anthony Smith, author of Reliability Centered Maintenance, has identified ten common
maintenance problems encountered in traditional preventive maintenance programs for
industry in general that support the need for a better method of performing preventive
maintenance:
1. Insufficient proactive maintenance because most effort is in corrective maintenance (i.e.,
responding or reacting to problems)
2. Frequent problem repetition because there is only time to restore a system to operation
and no time or effort spent to determine the cause and repair the root of the problem
3. Erroneous maintenance work that leads to a plant outage
4. Proven maintenance practices that are not communicated, taught, or implemented
5. Unnecessary and conservative preventive maintenance that does not contribute to overall
plant reliability and contributes to human error.
6. Unclear rationale for preventive maintenance with undocumented procedures that have no
logical background or theoretical basis
7. Maintenance programs that lack good record keeping or a method to track the decision
making process
8. Use and acceptance of OEM recommendations for maintenance practices that do not
apply to specific site conditions and that may be conservative so as to protect the OEM’s
warranties
9. Lack of standard practices among similar facilities
10. Lack of quality, practical, predictive maintenance tools and procedures
Application
• The best approaches adapt reliability-centered maintenance theory in a practical,
understandable manner to 1) prioritize assets, 2) assess the condition of the equipment
based on known failure modes, and 3) identify and schedule effective preventive
maintenance. The best approaches adapt reliability-centered maintenance theory in a
practical, understandable manner to 1) prioritize assets, 2) assess the condition of the
equipment based on known failure modes, and 3) identify and schedule effective
preventive maintenance.
• The application of reliability-centered maintenance to substations requires a careful and
detailed prioritization of where the next maintenance dollars will be spent in order to
improve system reliability of those prioritized assets that have the greatest impact on
system function. The diverse attributes that contribute to this process include:
• Substation voltage
• Equipment age
• The number of sensitive customers directly or indirectly served by the circuits out of the
substation
• The total number of breaker operations to date
• The total number of extended outages to date
Conclusion
• The fundamental goal of reliability-centered maintenance is to preserve the function or
operation of a system. Specifically, the function that has to be preserved for electric
substations is the delivery of safe, reliable electric power to customers. The concepts of
reliability-centered maintenance that have been used so effectively in other industries can
be applied to electric substations in a viable and effective maintenance approach that
proactively addresses the challenges of improving system reliability and controlling costs
in an increasingly competitive energy delivery market.