Enehttp://www.wapa.gov/es/title> <link rel="stesb1210.htmref="esb.css"> </head> <body bgcolor="white" link="red" vlink="#003366"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="60%" valign="top" align="left"><span class="subhead"><i>Energy Services bulletin</i>, <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2">Vol. 22, No. 6, December 2003</font><a href="http://wapa.gov"><br> </a></span></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td width="60%" valign="top" align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="100%"> <tr> <td width="96%"> <div align="right"> <span class="text"><a href="esb129.htm">Return to article<br> </a></span></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="96%"> <div align="left"> <p><span class="headline">Equipment Loan Program helps university maintain efficiency, safety<br> </span></p> <table width="64" border="0" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="0" align="right"> <tr> <td><img src="images/infracamFLIR.jpe" alt="" height="132" width="200" border="0"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span class="cutline">The FLIR ThermaCAM P20 infrared camera is one of nine types of infrared cameras Western customers can borrow from the Equipment Loan Program. With its remote control screen, the unit is especially useful for examining connections in confined spaces. <br> </span></td> </tr> </table> <p class="text"> The <a href="http://www.und.nodak.edu/">University of North Dakota</a> keeps its campuswide electrical system in prime condition because the <a href="http://www.facilities.und.nodak.edu/iemenu.htm">facilities department</a> treats maintenance like athletic training—they "just do it"—and they use the right equipment for the job, borrowed from <a href="http://www.wapa.gov/es/equip/">Western's Equipment Loan Program</a>.<br> </p> <p class="text">"The Equipment Loan Program has been a godsend," declared Electrician Darrel Iverson. "Especially with budget cuts, we don't have to neglect preventive maintenance just because the necessary tools aren't in the university's budget."<br> </p> <p class="text">UND's relationship with the Equipment Loan Program dates back to 1986, when the preventive maintenance program borrowed equipment to improve the university's energy efficiency. "We had gotten a lot of use out of the Equipment Loan Program," said Iverson. "It started with point radiometers, which we still use today between equipment loan periods."<br> </p> <p class="text">"The university has a number of different types of point radiometers. It is inspection by hunt-and-peck, but it still helps us find hotspots."<br> </p> <p class="text">The preventive maintenance crew disbanded in 1996, but the staff took their experience back to their original departments. For the electricians from the PM crew, that meant continuing to use Western's infrared detection equipment in the facilities electrical department.<br> <br> </p> <p><span class="subhead">New camera keeps crew out of confined spaces<br> </span></p> <p class="text">Western's equipment helps with regular maintenance, like the two annual inspections of the electrical system with infrared cameras. In the winter, an electrician walks the overhead distribution system; the summer inspection focuses on below-ground components—high-voltage and distribution transformers and connections in enclosures and manholes. "This year, we needed to get a look at some splices near the top corners of some electrical manholes," explained Iverson. "I explained the situation to Rich Burnkrant, and he recommended a new camera with a removable, remote-control LCD screen."<br> </p> <p class="text">The Equipment Loan Program recently added two <a href="http://www.flirthermography.com/english/cameras/camera/1035/">FLIR ThermaCam P20 infrared cameras</a> with liquid crystal diode screens to its stock of more than 400 pieces of technical equipment customers can borrow at little or no cost. Few small utilities or maintenance departments could afford to buy one of the $26,000 units, but many will find the cameras valuable for repairs in tight spaces. "We acquired the ThermaCam for just the kind of situation Darrel described," said Equipment Loan Manager <a href="mailto:burnkran@wapa.gov">Richard Burnkrant</a>, who works out of Western's Lakewood, Colo., headquarters. "I sent it right out to him the minute it came in."<br> </p> <p class="text"> The camera arrived at UND still wrapped in its plastic packaging. Lowering the camera into the manhole, Iverson found that a few resourceful "modifications" were needed to get a clear picture of the affected splice. "We secured the camera in a plastic bucket with a hole cut in it for the lens and a safety line on the equipment," explained the electrician, "I tied a string from the side of the bucket opposite of the lens opening to my thumb. That way, I could tip the bucket from the handle to move the camera up and down while watching the screen." <br> </p> <p class="text">The combination of technology and creativity allowed the electrician to inspect the connection under the manhole rim without physically going inside. To go into the manhole, OSHA regulations would have required the maintenance department to get a permit to check the air quality inside, place a blower in the space to maintain the air quality, equip a specially trained worker with a body harness and set up a tripod to lower the worker below ground. <br> </p> <p class="text">The UND Safety Office still required an air check for the presence of any gases in the manhole that could be affected by using imaging equipment below the manhole rim. However, Iverson noted, the specialized equipment saved two electricians several hours' work. "Safety is critical when you are crawling into a space with 12,470 volts, but crews are safest when they don't have to go into a confined space at all."<br> <br> </p> <p><span class="subhead">Detailed records make maintenance easier<br> </span></p> <p class="text">Regular infrared camera inspections of the electrical system help the facilities department with the challenge of scheduling maintenance and repairs at a large university. "There's a window of opportunity between summer school and the fall term," Iverson explained. "We like to schedule repairs when the campus is quiet, and it saves time to have an idea of where the potential problems are." <br> </p> <p class="text">Inspection records tell the department which connections need immediate repairs and which ones can be monitored. "Checking the whole system is time consuming," Iverson admitted, "but it should be done every year. It beats having to tighten and clean every connection," he added.<br> </p> <p class="text">The facilities department has records dating back to 1990. "Over time, patterns come up that help us identify trouble spots, like equipment that isn't performing," stated Iverson. "Now, when an area loses power, the first questions are, "When was the last time you shot it? What do your records say?'"<br> </p> <p class="text">Record-keeping paid off during an incident at UND this summer. A painting crew got tangled in overhead lines and tore them down. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but UND had to call in a line crew from East Grand Forks to make repairs.<br> </p> <p class="text"> While fixing the damaged lines, the crew repaired a corroded connection identified during the winter inspection. When the power came back on, however, a splice further down the line was opened. "That one had shown up on the camera before, so we knew right where to look for the weak link," Iverson observed.<br> </p> <p class="text"> If the connections had not been repaired, some dormitories and the cafeteria might have lost power and the nursing facility might have lost air conditioning. Even without a cost analysis of repairs, the price of a power outage is clear to Iverson. "In North Dakota in the winter, people can't work in a building that loses heat," he stated. "If a research facility loses power, you lose data as well as man hours."<br> </p> <p class="text"> Western's Equipment Loan Program helps the University of North Dakota avoid those costly power outages without the purchase of costly equipment. "We don't want to walk away from infrared scanning," said Iverson. "It's a great tool and a great program."<br> </p> <p class="text"> And a great way for an electrical system to stay in shape.<br> </p> <p></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body> </html>