INFRARED TRAINING CENTER

Volume 1, Issue 2
March, 2000

WHEN YOU’RE WARM, YOU’RE HOT!

ing and poorly maintained electrical Inside this issue:
By Robert Rogers, itc Level II,
itc Infrared Course Instructor equipment that is important. This is the
reason why annual infrared inspection

T
Focus on Applications: 2
is so important to detect thermal New Starter Problems
here are a number of anomalies before they become major
factors and consid- problems. Meet the Staff 2
erations to determine what
temperatures measured on The following is a thermogram of a
About the itc 3
electrical circuits constitute a problem. 1200 Amp 3Ø main circuit breaker with
The initial design of electrical equip- a measured temperature rise of 25 Cº
ment is the foundation, good or bad, Contact Information 3
that determines the types of thermal
“Traveling only 15 feet from the building
anomalies encountered at each site. Upcoming Classes 3
One factor is wire size. Wiring of an to my vehicle, I heard a loud explosion
electrical circuit is based on the load and the building lost power. The breaker
current / demand and whether a motor had exploded!” Continuing Education for
is connected to the circuit which would Thermographers
require large start-up currents. Other
considerations are the wire type, insu- over ambient on the “B” phase. This
lation type (THHN etc.), and the cur- temperature had been reported every
rent load on the circuit. year to management as a problem,
that due to its “indirect” temperature
Electrical problems become worse when implications, should be corrected as- September 24-27
electrical circuits, due to increased cir- soon-as possible. The first year of the Orlando
cuit demands, are expanded to include annual infrared scan, the temperature
additional loads. It is when these loads/ measured on the “B” phase was 10 Cº www.inframation.org
circuits are added that
overloaded conditions de-
velop and are com-
pounded every time a cir-
cuit is added. Often the
total load current at the
circuit breaker or fuse
disconnect switch which
feeds the circuit/load is
never measured by the
installing electrician. This
condition is just as im-
portant in a residential or The last visual and thermal images of the 1200 Amp breaker ever taken!
an industrial setting. It is
the increase in heat due to circuit load- (Continued on page 2)

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
WHEN YOU’RE WARM, YOU’RE HOT CONT’D
(Continued from page 1)
over ambient. The second year,
the temperature rise was 15 Cº
over ambient. Last year, the tem-
perature rise was 25 Cº over am-
bient! Indirect temperatures must
be taken seriously as they repre-
sent temperatures that are only a
fraction of the actual temperature
inside an electrical device. After
stating to management that this
F O C U S O N A P P L I C AT I O N S - N E W S TA RT E R P R O B L E M S
By Richard Harrison, itc Level I,
Cummins Engine Company
I
attended the itc
IR School in Bos-
ton during the Decem-
ber 1999 session and
subsequently received
my Level I Thermogra-
pher Certification. I
was very impressed
with the classes.
I do all the predictive maintenance
including vibration analysis, infra-
red, & oil analysis at the Cummins
Engine Company Consolidated Die-
sel Plant here in North Carolina. I
monitor the machine line drilling,
milling & grinding machinery.
Here is a case I worked on a few
weeks ago. I was starting to check
all electrical panels on a newly
(within 2 years) installed machine
line, when I discovered a potential
problem. While I was scanning a
machine control panel, I detected
M E E T T H E S TA F F - L I S A W E S T
M
s. West is the itc Inter-
national Manager and
holds a B.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering and computer sci-
ence.
She worked for Pacific Telesis and
Intel before joining FLIR Systems
in 1992. Lisa spent her first 6
years as an applications engineer,
INFRARED TRAINING CENTER
PAGE 2
was a VERY SERIOUS problem, indirect temperature rise on elec-
and the electrical circuit should be trical switchgear!!
shut down, I finished the report far
away from the electrical switch-
gear and left the building. Travel-
ing only 15 feet from the building “Indirect temperatures must be taken
to my vehicle, I heard a loud ex- seriously as they represent
plosion and the building lost temperatures that are only a fraction of
power. The breaker had exploded! the actual temperature inside an
electrical device.”
Give serious consideration to any
a hot spot on one of the motor
starters. Not only could this have “… just because you have new equipment,
caused unscheduled downtime, doesn't mean it's right.”
but also was a potential fire haz-
ard.
It was replaced and then re-
scanned to make sure the problem
was corrected. This case not only
proves the value of having an IR
program, but shows how, just be-
cause you have new equipment,
doesn't mean it's right.!
Richard receives an “IR Thinking” T
shirt for his contribution. Thank you
Richard! - Editor Note damaged terminalon old starter
IR Images of Starter Before and After Replacement
and traveled extensively in sup-
port of customers.
She leads the ITC International
with real world experience in
technology, products and applica-
tions. She has published numer-
ous articles and is an active mem-
ber of the infrared community,
both as a speaker and committee
member.! Lisa West
itc U.S.A., BOSTON itc INTERNATIONAL, SWEDEN About the Infrared Training Center

16 Esquire Road Rinkebyvägen 19 The Infrared Training Center offers training

N. Billerica, MA 01862, USA
Tel: +1.978.901-8405
Fax: +1.978.901-8832
E-mail:
info_us@infraredtraining.com
SE-182 11 Danderyd, Sweden
Tel: +46 (0) 8 753 25 00
Fax: +46 (0) 8 753 26 01
E-mail:
info_international@infraredtraining.com
and certification in all aspects of infrared
thermography use. Our world-class training
facilities are located near Boston, Massachu-
setts, USA and Stockholm, Sweden and have
the world's most extensive hands on labora-
tories for infrared applications. Please join us
in exploring the fascinating world of infrared!

Your comments and suggestions about this

“Hands On” Thermography Training, newsletter are welcomed and encouraged. If
Certification, and Support you have an interesting application or case
study to share, we encourage you to submit
it for publication.
We’re on the Web! Please e-mail to Gary.Orlove@flir.com or
www. snail mail to the USA office

infraredtraining.com itc INFRAMATION Editor: Gary Orlove Design: Gary Orlove

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