Performing periodic electrical maintenance of a residence, company or condominium is a fundamental task to make sure that all electronic equipment is working properly, with the necessary safety for everyone’s well-being.
For this, whenever there is distrust about the inadequate functioning of any electrical system, it is important to check in order to prevent dangerous situations and confirm that everything is suitable for use.
Otherwise, the ideal is to arrange for repairs immediately so as not to run the risk of electric shocks. And, at this time, it is important to remember that because it is a process that requires specific knowledge, the ideal is to call a professional or specialized electrical maintenance company to help. No wonder, maintenance electricians are among the most sought after service providers.
But don’t worry: in this guide, you will be able to understand the importance of electrical maintenance, what is the correct periodicity to check the system and you will learn which are the main problems that can be prevented with proper maintenance. Check it out!
After all, what is the importance of electrical maintenance?
Electrical maintenance is fundamental as a precautionary measure for the installations, as well as for the good functioning of all the electronic equipment installed, avoiding the wear and tear of the devices before the desired time.
To this end, technicians monitor, measure and repair the system components in order to allow them to continue working in the most efficient way possible. Furthermore, this practice is important to repair small defects before they become bigger problems.
How to establish a periodicity for electrical maintenance?
It is difficult to establish a correct periodicity for performing electrical maintenance. Moreover, everything will depend on the type of use of the property in question.
For industrial use, for example, electrical maintenance is constant, since the proper functioning of the machinery is crucial for production and electrical faults can cause major losses (up to millions of reais).
Thus, large companies have specialized (and usually own) teams to perform this maintenance practically in real time, monitoring each equipment, its performance and possible defects.
In homes and businesses, everything will depend on how the property is being used. It is recommended, for example, that people who are buying or renting a property request the electrical maintenance of the place to guarantee that they will find adequate conditions for occupation.
Types of electrical maintenance
There are three main types of electrical maintenance: predictive, corrective and preventive. Each one serves a specific purpose and is used to meet certain demands. Now learn a little more about each type:
- Corrective electrical maintenance
It happens when the electrical system is already having a problem and needs immediate repairs, being the most urgent type of electrical maintenance, performed only when there are imminent risks for the safety of the users of the building and/or important material losses.
Here, two conditions can be determinant for the need for correction. The first is when, through monitoring carried out by the predictive electrical maintenance team, a problem has been identified in some specific system or equipment. Thus, the correction will be made based on the data already identified.
The second occurs when it is not known exactly where the problem is, but there is something out of the ordinary. Besides the industrial sector, this is a common situation also in homes and businesses, being a great reason to call a professional or electrical maintenance company to perform this service and help correct the defect.
- Preventive electrical maintenance
The ideal type of electrical maintenance, since it is able to find possible defects even before they cause any major conflict – making everything remain in the most perfect order.
Here, the functioning of the installed equipment is verified, as well as the presence of badly coated wires, wear and tear related to the improper use of the objects, among other common setbacks.
- Predictive electrical maintenance
Mainly used in the industrial sector, predictive maintenance aims to monitor the operation of machinery in order to understand its behavior over time.
Many personal computers and smartphones have software capable of monitoring the amount and energy being spent by the equipment, as well as proposing solutions for battery savings, isn’t that right? Well, predictive maintenance works more or less the same way, but with a more complex and sophisticated system.
What are the main problems that can be prevented with electrical maintenance?
Have you ever stopped to think how fundamental electrical installations are in our daily lives? Without them, the main modern appliances wouldn’t be able to work and provide us with several facilities and pleasures.
Therefore, it is important to stress that using low quality materials to make the electrical installations is not a recommended practice, since the use of certified materials is one of the best ways to guarantee the safety of the system, making your devices last longer.
This way, if you are building or renovating a property, choosing good products in the installation is a great way to avoid future problems. The same goes for choosing an excellent professional to assist you during the process.
However, since not everyone has the privilege of designing and building an electrical system from scratch, already based on the most modern and adequate standards, it is necessary to perform the maintenance of the existing electrical network in order to prevent and correct some of the most common problems. Check which are the main ones:
Network undersizing
It occurs when the amount and/or capacity of cables and other components installed in the network is less than the actual need of the existing system. This can happen for many reasons, either because the electrical network was designed by an amateur or because the needs of the system have changed over time.
Absence of protection devices
Old installations that did not undergo electrical maintenance for long periods may not be adapted to the safety standards in force today, and must be remodeled to meet all current technical specifications.
Wear of components
It is natural that objects deteriorate with the action of time, and this statement is no different when we talk about the components of an electrical system. In this case, special mention should be made of wiring, which loses its capacity to conduct electricity.
Improvisations
It is common to use extensions and other techniques to solve the lack of an outlet near a specific location where we want to install new electronic devices. The problem is that this solution, which was supposed to be temporary, ends up becoming definitive in most cases.
Overloads
This problem is caused by a set of variables of the previous problems, since the overloads can be the result of several factors.
The absence of protection devices is also a critical item to cause an overload, as well as the natural wear and tear of the items in a network, in addition to the improvisation and installation of electrical components performed by untrained and disqualified personnel.
Another factor that can cause overloads is the mistaken use of appliances with high consumption of electricity, using common sockets and installations to supply these utensils.
As we have seen, performing electrical maintenance is not only important to ensure that the entire system works properly, but also to make sure that all equipment is safe for human use without risk of shock and other accidents.
Therefore, requesting the services of a qualified professional or an electrical maintenance company, either personally or through a cell phone service application, is not only desired, but it is also crucial to assist in carrying out optimum electrical maintenance in your home, condominium or company.
