WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN HURT YOU. Improperly functioning equipment, if not detected soon enough, can lead to loss of money and even potential injury.
That’s why L. E. Ballance uses FLIR thermal cameras. FLIR’s award-winning infrared cameras and accessories meet and exceed the most stringent monitoring and inspection requirements. FLIR infrared cameras help Ballance Electric assist our maintenance professionals and process and quality assurance engineers to solve the tough problems as well as day-to-day maintenance challenges. Here at Ballance Electric we use the FLIR IR cameras, to inspect motors, pumps, conveyors, and electrical connections and components, new equipment installations and repairs, and even the plant itself including roofing, heating and cooling systems, and building structures.
Trained electricians equipped with the finest instruments and the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) thoroughly inspect your electrical equipment. In this picture, take note that our technicians are inspecting a 3000 amp disconnect while the facility is up and running. This is the only way to perform accurate thermographic inspections as the equipment needs to be under load.
800 amp Main Circuit Breaker
The “A” Phase breaker contact displayed an abnormal thermal pattern when compared to the “C” Phase contactor under similar load. The temperature differential was 15.8 degrees Celsius classifying the anomaly as critical. Because of the potential for business interruption and respective fire hazard the client was notified immediately. That evening the breaker was replaced during the planned outage. Mitigation of this issue prevented a service outage that could have cost as much as $150,000 per hour until back up generation could have been deployed.
“Infrared inspection programs have proven that on average for every $1 spent on infrared electrical inspections, there is a $4 return on investment for materials and labor from fixing the problems before they fail.”
