Your Switchboard Is a Sleeping Giant. Don’t Wait for It to Wake Up.
A switchboard will probably go years without a single problem. That’s exactly why it’s dangerous, according to TEC Automation Co-Director Ryan Smith. “People forget about them. They’re in a room somewhere, doing their job, not making any noise. So nobody looks at them. Nobody checks them.”
What can actually go wrong
TEC was called out to do repairs at a busy public facility and opened the switchboard panel for a look. The cabling had been running hot for years, warm enough that the PVC sleeving around the cables had deteriorated to the point of crumbling on touch, exposing copper wiring underneath. All eight pump controllers in that switchboard were in the same condition, and the next person to open that panel was at genuine risk of electrocution, with short circuit and system failure also on the table. Nobody knew, because nobody had looked.
One thermal scan and inspection found all of it. TEC secured funding approval to replace the internal cabling, giving that switchboard another 10 years of safe operation.
What good maintenance actually looks like
TEC recommends this as a baseline for most facilities:
Monthly visual checks, clearing dust and bugs and confirming nothing looks obviously wrong
Every three to six months, cable checking and filter cleaning to maintain cooling capacity
Once a year, a handheld thermal scan to find hot joins, failing equipment and cables running outside safe temperature ranges before they take down the whole system
Six-monthly inspections are what doing the job properly looks like. Annual is the bare minimum for compliance and genuine peace of mind.
The ten year rule
Some clients work to a ten year framework: once a switchboard has been in service for ten years, they start budgeting and planning for an upgrade. That’s not because switchboards automatically fail at ten years, it’s because that’s usually the point wear becomes visible and bringing the switchboard up to current safety standards becomes part of the conversation.
The thermal scan that pays for itself
TEC provides thermal scanning for a range of clients, including some who use it specifically to reduce insurance premiums, since insurers want evidence that critical equipment is being actively maintained. Beyond the insurance angle, one scan could find the broken wire or failing part before it shuts down a hotel, a plant or a facility.
If you’re not sure when your switchboard was last properly inspected, that’s probably your answer. See our switchboard design and manufacturing capability for what a properly built system looks like from the start.
Get in touch and TEC can have a look.
Phone: (08) 8968 9484 | Email: info@tecautomation.com.au | Web: tecautomation.com.au