Maintaining a power center for Jervis Webb in Harbor Springs Michigan
The other day I was asked to accompany a representative from Chubb Group through the Harbor Springs and Boyne City plants of Jervis Webb. He was there to take thermal pictures of the factories main distribution system and power panels. This is done for insurance purposes, the special camera that is employed picks up any temperature variations in the panels. Anything that is above a certain temperature is flagged as a problem that needs to be repaired.
You can see the problem areas in the pictures. The bright yellow areas are the “hot spots”. So what’s next? First I took as many pictures of the existing switch gear as I could to see if I could get replacement parts. This equipment was installed in the early 1960’s. It was made in Detroit Michigan if that gives you any idea of the age! I was told by the salesman at Standard Electric that the old panels were obsolete. So the next option is ordering new breaker style switch gear. To save on labor and down time Standard quoted custom “I line” panels from Square “D” to go into the existing panel tubs. That way all I have to do is label the existing wiring, remove the existing interiors and install the new ones.
I always think of the customer’s needs first in this situation. Because time is money every second that the factory is not up and running it’s costing them. So this work will have to be done most likely when the plant closes down over the weekend or on night shifts.
