Old panels and disconnects

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sceepe

sceepe

Senior Member
Does anybody know of some good info as to the life expectancy of panels and switchboards. I am looking at some pretty old equipment (30-40 yrs) and wanted to have some more info as to if needs to be replaced.

If a switchboard is 40 yrs old and working fine is there a problem. Now I'm not talking about old FPE gear that we know may have problems. I would also like some info as to what kind of failures can occur with old equipment.

Thanks in advance.
 
B

bphgravity

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: Old panels and disconnects

There was a really good article in EC&M a year or so ago about this very issue. I believe the bottom line came down to the condition of use. Equipment may only last 20 years under high termperature, high load, highly corrosive conditions, and yet the same equipment could have nearly an infinite life expectancy under more favorable conditions such as an office building where the environment is clean and cool.

I think it would be nearly impossible to arbitrarily place a life expectancy on any one component or device unless siginificant historical data shows otherwise. The best thing that can be done is an evaluation of the equipment over a set period of time to see if the operation is showing signs of wear or deteriation. Taking temperature readings, power consumption, insulation testing and other "quality" tests will indicate if the equipment is in the process of failing.

I imagine the end of equipment would be similar to that of light bulbs. Some things will go out without even a wimper, other things will be quite violent and could cause injury and possibly damage to other equipment. Carefull analysis of each individual installation and consideration of its condition of use will provide you with the best determination of expected life expectancy.
 
charlie

charlie

Senior Member
Location
Indianapolis
Re: Old panels and disconnects

I don't have a problem with old equipment as long as it has been maintained and the equipment is still rated for the available fault current. I question why you are on the job? Are you adding load to the building? Will the transformer bank be replaced? Will the available fault current change? :D
 
sceepe

sceepe

Senior Member
Re: Old panels and disconnects

I question why you are on the job? Are you adding load to the building? Will the transformer bank be replaced? Will the available fault current change?
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The owner is in the process of determining his maintenance / capital spending priorities and asked me to look at his electrical systems to determine needs. Part of it is evaluating capacity for future expansion, part is evaluating existing equipment, part is comparison to best practices. He's got some pretty old gear but it appears to be maintained in fairly good shape. However, he does not want to pay for the kind of testing that bphgravity is talking about. So, I have to base my opinion on external appearances. Hence the original question.
 
J

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Re: Old panels and disconnects

Imagine passing judgment on a 30 year old truck just by looking at it? After all mechanics are expensive.

Seriously though, consequences of failures of electrical equipment are the same regardless of age. Think of fire, injury, financial loss, and most importantly death.
 
paul

paul

Senior Member
Location
Snohomish, WA
Re: Old panels and disconnects

I'm with bphgravity . You're best bet is to have someone come in and test the equipment if that's what he wants to know. Infra-red scanning and breaker testing is often a specialty done by certain contractors. It sounds like that's what he wants, but he wants to know only by sight. Good luck to you with that. I'd rather have the reports and then go through and correct anything that comes up showing any sign of a problem.
 
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