Maintenance programs aren’t “one size fits all”. Each predictive maintenance program should be developed based on your facility's size, equipment, regulations, and your productivity goals. So how do you create a predictive maintenance program?
First, it’s important to understand what some of the most common predictive maintenance methods are. Reactive maintenance is the kind of program that depends on you doing absolutely nothing. You run it til it fails or breaks. Remember that knock in your car engine? You have two choices – keep running it til the engine fails completely (mega car repair bill and lots of downtime!) or take it in to get it fixed. Letting your car engine fail when all it needed was regular oil changes is the equivalent of Reactive Maintenance.
Preventive Maintenance (PM) is when you create a schedule and perform maintenance repairs on your equipment whether it “needs it” or not. The schedule is based on either a specific amount of calendar time or machine run time. This is cheaper than reactive maintenance, but you still need personnel and a large inventory.
What this series is about is Predictive Maintenance (PdM). This means you track indicators over time to predict when equipment needs repair. An effective predictive maintenance program measures equipment on a regular basis, tracks those measurements, and then takes corrective action when measurements are about to go outside the equipment operating limits. This option is the most cost-effective method, but it does require some commitment on your part in order to effectively track performance.
Infrared surveys are particularly important for electrical equipment because failure of electrical equipment usually translates into critical mission failure. And, as you are aware, certain kinds of electrical failures pose life-threatening risks to workers.
Interested in learning more? Give me a call at 803-3328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North and South Carolina!
This article series was developed using ideas from http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2009/124.html?page=full and http://www.myflukestore.com/crm_uploads/part_one_of_a_predictive_maintenace_series.pdf for source material.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Do Infrared Roof Scans Work on All Roofs?
Here’s a few key factors to consider when thinking about whether infrared inspections should be part of your roof maintenance program:
1. Roof construction: Infrared roof inspections work best on built up or single-ply membrane installed over, and in continuous contact with, a layer of insulation or an insulating deck. Roofs that have concrete pavers are not good candidates.
2. Time of Day: Generally infrared inspections are best performed at night after a sunny day. Daytime highs should be above 40F. There are other weather factors to consider – give me a call at 803-3328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North and South Carolina!
1. Roof construction: Infrared roof inspections work best on built up or single-ply membrane installed over, and in continuous contact with, a layer of insulation or an insulating deck. Roofs that have concrete pavers are not good candidates.
2. Time of Day: Generally infrared inspections are best performed at night after a sunny day. Daytime highs should be above 40F. There are other weather factors to consider – give me a call at 803-3328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial and residential end users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit www.irinfraredservices.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/infraredscans. We are proud to offer the very best thermography services in North and South Carolina!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
What is Infrared Thermography? Does it Work?
I cover alot of information about infrared thermography, roof scans, preventative maintenance, and energy audits. I thought it might be time for a "back to basics" review!
I'm often asked why I think thermography is so effective. What makes it better than a normal inspection?
A normal inspection uncovers what the eye can see. An infrared inspection finds what the eye can't see - and remember - what you can't see CAN hurt you (and your building!)
All components within a building generate infrared radiation. This heat is invisible to the human eye and can only be detected by infrared thermography. Generally, right before an electrical or mechanical component fails, it generates heat. While the component might appear fine, imminent failure may not be readily apparent. This is why infrared is often used for preventative and predictive maintenance.
The building itself may have issues that you can't see. If insulation is missing or wet, if the grout in a CMU wall is missing (or worse, once we found an entire section of a supporting wall that was missing multiple blocks!), an infrared scan by a certified thermographer will be able to locate these construction defects. And of course, if a roof is leaking, a thermal image during a roof scan can detect the location of the source leak.
These types of findings simply cannot be done through a "standard" inspection, or require intrusive and destructive methods. IR infrared inspections are cost-effective, non-invasive, and accurate.
The following list details some of the types of surveys we routinely carry out:
Interested in learning more? Call me at 803-328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: We are proud to offer the very best infrared thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!
I'm often asked why I think thermography is so effective. What makes it better than a normal inspection?
A normal inspection uncovers what the eye can see. An infrared inspection finds what the eye can't see - and remember - what you can't see CAN hurt you (and your building!)
All components within a building generate infrared radiation. This heat is invisible to the human eye and can only be detected by infrared thermography. Generally, right before an electrical or mechanical component fails, it generates heat. While the component might appear fine, imminent failure may not be readily apparent. This is why infrared is often used for preventative and predictive maintenance.
The building itself may have issues that you can't see. If insulation is missing or wet, if the grout in a CMU wall is missing (or worse, once we found an entire section of a supporting wall that was missing multiple blocks!), an infrared scan by a certified thermographer will be able to locate these construction defects. And of course, if a roof is leaking, a thermal image during a roof scan can detect the location of the source leak.
These types of findings simply cannot be done through a "standard" inspection, or require intrusive and destructive methods. IR infrared inspections are cost-effective, non-invasive, and accurate.
The following list details some of the types of surveys we routinely carry out:
- Location of leaks on flat roofs
- Identification of water leaks or damp
- Assessment of energy loss from buildings
- Identify faults or leaks in underfloor heating systems
- Location of pipes in floors or walls
- Survey and inspect underfloor heating systems
- Identify insulation defects in walls
- Locate drafts or air infiltration in buildings
- Check cold store insulation and air integrity
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: We are proud to offer the very best infrared thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Why Use Infrared for Building Inspections?
Is it possible that an owner doesn't want to know about building problems? Of course! Inspecting a building to determine its condition can have many implications.
In many cases, buildings are leased to another company. Tenants want the building to be energy efficient to reducing utility costs. However, if the building is not energy-efficient, it can be expensive to re-insulate the building or to fix air leaks. A building owner may not have any financial motivation to make expensive changes to make the building energy efficient since he/she is not responsible for the utility bills. On the other hand, if building energy costs are low, that can be to a building owner's advantage during a sales/rental negotiation.
Inspecting a building can sometimes uncover major problems - and once those problems are documented, they may require repair.
Infrared thermography is an easy and inexpensive way to document energy leaks or repair needs. For tenants or potential building buyers, it can be a way to make sure a building owner has done the necessary building upkeep and maintenance to make the financial investment a sound business deal.
Interested in learning more? Call me at 803-328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: We are proud to offer the very best infrared thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!
The ideas for this series of blogs are derived, in part, from Greg Stockton's excellent article Infared (IR) Thermography for Building Managers.
In many cases, buildings are leased to another company. Tenants want the building to be energy efficient to reducing utility costs. However, if the building is not energy-efficient, it can be expensive to re-insulate the building or to fix air leaks. A building owner may not have any financial motivation to make expensive changes to make the building energy efficient since he/she is not responsible for the utility bills. On the other hand, if building energy costs are low, that can be to a building owner's advantage during a sales/rental negotiation.
Inspecting a building can sometimes uncover major problems - and once those problems are documented, they may require repair.
Infrared thermography is an easy and inexpensive way to document energy leaks or repair needs. For tenants or potential building buyers, it can be a way to make sure a building owner has done the necessary building upkeep and maintenance to make the financial investment a sound business deal.
Interested in learning more? Call me at 803-328-2889 and let’s talk!
IR Infrared Services provides top quality thermographic service at a competitive price to commercial users in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit our website or follow us on Twitter: We are proud to offer the very best infrared thermography services in North Carolina and South Carolina!
The ideas for this series of blogs are derived, in part, from Greg Stockton's excellent article Infared (IR) Thermography for Building Managers.
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