Abstract
A PAPER on “Maintenance of Distribution Plant and Mains on A.C. Networks” was read before the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London on November 10 by Messrs. F. N. Beaumont and F. A. Geary. They stated that the frequency with which apparatus should be examined, and the time to be allocated for each overhaul, are dependent on (a) the design of the individual unit in relation to its electrical duties and the atmospheric conditions under which it has to operate ; (b) the electrical and mechanical strength of the materials employed ; (c) the accessibility of the parts requiring normal inspection and testing ; and (d) the physical lay-out and housing of the units, together with the facilities available for carrying out routine maintenance on site. The closest co-operation between the designer and the maintenance engineer is at all times desirable, in order that those details in design which require excessive maintenance may be suitably modified. It is the function of a maintenance engineer to organize the necessary maintenance, examination and testing of all sections of plant under his control, so that the plant may carry out its functional operation successfully and incipient faults be found and eradicated before they lead to failure on the line. The aspects and items of equipment dealt with in the paper are as follows. Staffing, safety precautions, record systems of plant maintenance, switchgear maintenance, batteries, transformers, transformer chambers, fire-fighting installations, protective gear and mains. The paper shows that maintenance, combined with adequate records, can foster improved design, to the mutual advantage of manufacturer and user, in order to obtain for future purposes the best design and lay-out practicable.
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Maintenance Work in Electrical Supply. Nature 152, 747 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/152747c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/152747c0