Stockton Infrared Thermographic Services, Inc.
All rights reserved.

How and Why an IR Contractor Should Promote the Use of a Spot Radiometer for Client's In-House P/PM Programs.

Presented At: Infraspection Institute Symposium "IR/INFO '96"
January, 1996. (Orlando, FL)

By: Gregory R. Stockton

Stockton Infrared
Thermographic Services

8472 Walker Mill Road,
Randleman, NC 27317
1-800-248-7226
Presented at IR/Info '96,
Orlando, FL
Copyright 1996,
Infraspection Institute, Inc.
 

ABSTRACT
In growing numbers, companies are realizing the benefits of performing Predictive/Preventive Maintenance (P/PM) activities in general, and Infrared Predictive Maintenance (IR/PM) activities in particular, especially as it relates to predicting electrical/mechanical systems equipment failure. This is in no small part due to the efforts of our industry to educate engineering and maintenance department heads as to the advantages of predicting, and subsequently preventing problems from becoming systems failures, by using infrared thermographic equipment and/or contract services to graphically document potential problems. I think however, that we have neglected to approach these companies with what they really need: An extensive and effective Infrared Predictive Maintenance Program. One "Hot Spot" survey per annum does not a successful infrared program make. Contracting Infrared thermographic imaging services should only be a Part of the program. This paper discusses the approach which I am implementing with varying degrees of success, at my client's plant sites.

INTRODUCTION
In the past, I have considered my services a very valuable part of my client's maintenance activities and they have obviously concurred, since I have returned to their facilities year after year. Previously, when I left a site, I was leaving with the only means of performing infrared testing. I see my role changing. My goal as an infrared thermographer is to report potential problems on their critical electrical/mechanical systems prior to failure, in a timely and cost-effective manner. However, I see two main areas which I think need improvement: 1) I do not inspect everything that needs to be inspected. While performing infrared surveys, we literally walk past hundreds of pieces of equipment that are in different stages of failure. But we have been given a limited number of hours or days to check critical systems, so we pass by this equipment. 2) There is nothing remedial about infrared thermography itself, and sometimes repairs are either not made, or not correctly made. In some facilities, I report the same problems on the same pieces of equipment year after year. Primarily to address these two issues, I have set out to provide my client's with what they need: The start (or at very least the chance to start) an effective IR/PM Program where my services are a Part of the overall program; and not the program itself.

A LITTLE HISTORY
I began by performing infrared surveys annually or biannually at sites ranging from small office buildings to steel mills. I would come in, perform a survey, make a report and present it to my clients in person the next day. I did this, and still do, for several reasons:

The feedback that I have received has been generally most favorable and positive, but I really want constructive criticism, which for the most part, has not been forthcoming. I have come to the realization that I am going to have to figure out what I am doing wrong on my own.

In the past, depending on many factors, I would go back to recheck repairs as part of the original contract, or as a separate contract on an as-needed basis. This turns out not to be very cost-effective because it cost almost as much to schedule and perform a re-inspection, to check a few items, as it does to perform the original survey. Here are the main reasons:

I decided that re-inspections were not the answer to improving my service. I also noticed that a lot of problems were being repeated survey after survey, but did know exactly what the real problem was until, on a annual survey, I realized that I was making the third thermographic report, on the same starter, in as many surveys. It was identical to the two previous thermograms!

First of all, I was misdiagnosing the problem. I had twice before reported a loose connection on the line side lug connection on Phase C. The first time, the electrician had tightened the lug. The second time, the lug was disassembled and cleaned. Now, it was still hot. As it turns out, the contacts in the starter were damaged and the heat was being conducted up to the lug. My inexperience could have caused that piece of equipment to fail. I do not want the responsibility (or the liability) for a potential failure. I realized that they had no way of rechecking the lug temperature after I left with the scanner. I pulled out my spot radiometer, handed it to the electrician, and he verified the delta-T. I remembered that night, that the year before I thought about lending them my spot radiometer for a couple of weeks but had decided not to.

I thought then, that I had the answer to the problem of them rechecking findings without exceeding their imaging services budget, or breaking my finances by making free return inspections. All I had to do was convince my clients to purchase a spot radiometer and they could check the repairs themselves, and trend temperatures on other equipment.

So, for a year or so, whenever I made an inspection, I would work with the electrician during the survey with my spot radiometer and talk with my client end-users about the advantages of them owning one.

I soon found that unfortunately, allocating a few hundred dollars to purchase an instrument, or finding their old gun and installing fresh batteries in it, wasn't a problem. The problem was the fact that:

WHY NOT AN IMAGER NOW
Anyone who truly understands the benefits of infrared thermography, knows that even a medium-sized facility can use an imager. But for most engineering & maintenance departments, purchasing an imaging system is a pipe dream. We can explain and even show managers and engineers in beautiful color imagery ~and to some extent on paper) how owning an imager can greatly benefit their operation. So why don't they own them?

I do work for companies which gross hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, surely these companies can AFFORD imaging systems hardware and software costing between $70,000.00 & $100,000.00. They can afford an imaging system, but they cannot JUSTIFY owning an imaging system, for several reasons:

First, all the engineers have to justify this potential expenditure is maybe a couple of reports from past surveys. They don't have any real proof that it works. They have not assigned any value to these reports, the repairs that have been made, or the savings that they have enjoyed. Even if they tried to, how do they prove a negative? My clients hire me to prevent shut-downs. They are not about to let a problem intentionally go to failure just to prove a point.

Secondly, even when they seriously investigate buying a system, at some point they realize what we in the industry know all too well, that owning the system is the cheapest part of an Infrared PM program. Motivated, dedicated and well-trained personnel to operate the system and administer the program; that is going to be the very expensive part. This is quite evident in plants that I survey that an old imager in the plant, in it's case, collecting dust. So, they do not know how much the program is really going to cost.

Third, they are only looking for justification for using the system to prevent unplanned shutdowns on electrical/mechanical systems. As stated earlier, this is even difficult. It is even harder to prove that infrared thermography can also improve their facilities and their processes. I have had tremendous success with process improvements over the years, some quite by accident, just happen to look at something while passing by, on my way to the next MCC. It is difficult to justify these kinds of studies since we are sometimes the first thermographers to look at these processes with an infrared camera. My point here is that it is going to be tough for an engineer to walk into a plant manager's office and say, "I think we should buy this to improve our processes".

With the advances in the sensors and imaging systems, in general, we are no longer limited by the imager's ability to take temperature readings and/or distinguish between differences in temperatures instead we are limited by our knowledge of how hot or cold an object is suppose to be or what the normal pattern of heat is.

They are not going to be able to justify an imager just because the chief engineer and I say it would pay for itself. They are going to need real proof.

WHY A SPOT RADIOMETER NOW
Back to my original premises. I am trying to help my clients and improve my services to them, by taking them to true predictive maintenance status.

Now, let's look at some terrible truths:

What they need is a starter program that will, on it's own merits, lead to justification for purchasing an imager and the human resources for the implementation and administration of a more advanced program.

This is why I promote a starter IR/PM program, using a spot radiometer. They can afford one. I can help them learn how to use it. They get some experience, have some documented successes, and prove the case to management, that they should get a more advanced piece of equipment.

I believe two factors, will come together to benefit my clients over the next few years:

A MEANS TO AN END
When I walk through the door of a plant that I have not surveyed before, I must:

Assess their needs based on the size, complexity, and importance of uptime to the operation. For instance, a small computer center or hospital may have only 3000A service, but the uptime of the operation is of critical importance. They need a very good P/PM program. On the other hand, a 6-day a week, 12-hour a day manufacturing facility with a relatively simple 8000A service, may not need as comprehensive a program, even though they consume more power. The type of operation that I am inspecting is a big factor. An office building or small warehouse just doesn't need as much thermography as for instance, a plastics molding plant or a foundry.

I must also get a read on their receptiveness, readiness attitude, and proclivity toward change, at all different levels of personnel. At very least my end-user, and (probably) the plant maintenance & engineering staff, realize the validity of predictive maintenance and IR, or I would not be there. However, few realize how many different applications there are for infrared thermography. As is frequently the case, they have been told to start a P/PM program, but don't have the staff necessary to implement it. How can they, when their maintenance staff has been cut to a bare minimum by the same well-meaning managers who want them to implement this new program.

I must find out the level of sophistication at which their present maintenance activities are being carried out, and why they don't have available personnel and resources to work on P/PM projects. These reasons do vary, but in many plants, they are "spinning their wheels", stuck in the mire of total reactive maintenance. The maintenance staff spend their days "putting out fires".

More terrible truths:

To get out of the reactive maintenance vicious circle, they are going to need a larger budget. In order to obtain a larger budget, they need tangible evidence that the program will pay. In the meantime, they are going to have to continue "putting out fires", while constructing a workable plan within their current budget, to have the starter program prove itself on it's own merits.

This is where I can help!

First of all, I can get the attention of the management by doing an excellent infrared survey. The survey report has to impress not only the engineering staff, but also middle and upper management. Typically, these people come from operations, marketing, sales, or human resources; not engineering backgrounds. I have to make the reports at the same time understandable to management and usable to engineering.

To accomplish this, I painstakingly:

Second, I can get the maintenance staff excited about infrared thermography. This is extremely important. I treat everyone with respect. I listen to their complaints about the plant management and then challenge them to change the way things are done. From the chief electrician, to the panel cover-removers, I explain what we are doing and why. I want these people to insist to their boss, that they attend the seminar that I plan to put on at the end of the job.

Third, I can get them started. They need to get off on the right foot with a few successes. These are easy to find. What about that corroded starter panel that was not operating when I was there, because the machine was down. They can send someone to check it when it is operational. Also during the survey, I usually hand the spot radiometer to a helper and have him check the temperatures of a bunch of small, like-operating motors that are in a row. He will come back in ten minutes, having found a surface winding temperature in excess of 200 degrees Fahrenheit (unless they should request Celsius or Kelvin, all my work is in Fahrenheit). This, I tell him, is the beginning of his company's infrared program. He has just found a problem before failure, without me, or my imager.

AFTER THE SURVEYING
Let's say everything is going as planned. I have peaked the interest of personnel at all levels. It's the morning after completing the Survey (typically multiple-day), the Survey Report is ready, and a four-hour meeting is scheduled.

REPORT PRESENTATION
Key to successfully setting up a starter program, is for everyone to be in on it's inception. I will have the report presentation at the beginning of the seminar. Hopefully at this point, I have peaked the plant personnel's interest in infrared thermography. A conference room works better than a classroom setting. The participants tend to be more comfortable, it is quiet, and all necessary audio-visual devices usually function properly. With management present and after the introductions have been made, I review the report with my attention aimed at end-user, the managers, and the electrician (who accompanied me on the survey). Then I try to explain very simply, the theory behind IR to the managers. If these managers are at all perceptive (they usually are), they will see the excitement in everyone's eyes. These are golden moments. Everyone looks good.

Toward the end of the report presentation segment, I will show the management something that I found totally unrelated to electrical or mechanical devices, oft-times a loose thermogram, which he can take with him, of something maybe related to production or the processes. This gets them thinking of other uses for IR.

THE SEMINAR
Few managers want to stay for the seminar. But they always give the room overtones upon leaving, as to their approval of what we are doing. This relaxes everyone and I begin my seminar.

Below, a general outline of what I try to cover in 4 hours.

I hand out a complete seminar outline, and start by announcing that every piece of electrical/mechanical equipment that failed last year, in their plant; burned-up. I then challenge them to dispute this statement. They cannot. It's just plain physics, we have to monitor the temperatures, so that we can discover problems, and make plans for repairing them, before they fail.

A) DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES:

1) Reactive. 2) Preventive. 3) Predictive. 4) Proactive.

B) JUSTIFICATION:

I pull out a brochure on the latest offerings from the IR manufacturers, and tell them that they can afford one, but cannot justify one. I also confirm to them that yes indeed, this is rocket science.

C) THE PLANT'S HISTORY WITH INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY:

We go over the history of IR in their plant and I tell them where I think they should be. The way to get the imager is to take a spot radiometer and justify a better unit.

D) THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTATION:

Assigning a value to repaired items, and keeping up with the real cost of the IR program.

I need everyone's attention. At some point, depending on the amount of excitement that I sense, I will introduce some points of personal interest to them, like: 1) This is good for the company; the place that their paycheck comes from. 2) Any new knowledge makes them more valuable. 3) Would they rather change that bearing on an emergency call at three o'clock in the morning, or on a planned outage. 4) Knowing how to perform P/PM is increasingly important to those who hire maintenance personnel; it looks good on a resume.

E) DEVELOPING A PROGRAM:

F) THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE IR:

G) SPECIFIC USES FOR INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY:

H) THE BASICS OF HEAT TRANSFER & IR THEORY:

J) THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEMPERATURE-MEASURING DEVICES:

At this point, we usually take a break, and upon returning, I review everything we have talked about so far.

K) THE SENSOR, THE ATMOSPHERE & THE TARGET:

L) QUICK REVIEW OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT:

M) QUICK REVIEW OF THE SENSOR, THE ATMOSPHERE & THE TARGET:
I fill three 1-gallon milk jugs with hot tap water. I wrap nothing around jug 1, electrician's tape around jug 2, and aluminum foil around jug 3. I then ask them to write down the temperature of the water in each jug.

Since this takes some time, depending on the number of spot radiometers that we have available and the number of attendees in the class, we have another break, while everyone is taking a turn with the jugs. I stay in the room, and in the meantime, we have one-on-one question and answers.

N) IR LAB (con't):
When everyone is finished, I write down the temperatures, in chronological order (not by name), so that everyone can see.

This is a good exercise for several reasons:

[The hero of the class removes the tops from the jugs, and obtains the water temperatures in the three jugs in about 30 seconds, but is also likely to be able to obtain correct temperatures by regular methods.]

O) IN-PLANT TESTING:
Next we head out into the plant to an area where it's not too noisy, so that we can practice.

I try not to touch the spot radiometer. We go to a combination starter, or other piece of electrical switchgear that I found a problem on, that is easily opened, and confirm the delta-T. We check a motor temperature or two, and they do the math. I always measure the emissivity of something, for this seems to be the hardest thing for them to understand. I also point out a specific area that was not inspected, where I think they will find a problem. The amount of time we spend, depends on how much time we have left. This is a lot of information for them to digest in a four-hour class. Some understand, some are lost. But they all see the purpose and validity of this method.

HOW THE CONTRACTOR BENEFITS
There is always an older hand sitting in the class wondering why I am going to all this trouble. He has been around long enough to know that nothing is free. I am not charging them ~or the report presentation or seminar, I do not sell spot radiometers or imagers. So, at some point, I explain how I plan to benefit from all of this:

I believe it is good for businesses to continually improve what I am doing for them. I am not about to ignore obvious problems, such as repeat problems or failures on equipment that could have been saved by infrared thermography, even if I am not getting paid to find them.

My business lives by favorable word-of-mouth advertising. These people do network. For every client I lose to an in-house program, I will get two or three new accounts.

I can read the handwriting on the wall. Although it has been talked about for years, the prices infrared equipment will eventually come down. I still have a Texas Instruments calculator that I bought in college for $75.00. A calculator with more functions, can be obtained for $12.50 today. I intend to be ready to adapt to the marketplace.

Also, I may get to work on a research project, as a direct or indirect result of an off-hand comment or a thought that someone had while I was presenting my report or putting on a seminar.

As for selling the equipment or related services:

DO THEY REALLY NEED ALL THIS?
Now let me argue my own premises. That is, that the thesis of this paper could be flawed. Let's look at what I have presupposed.

Before I attempt to help my clients, I need to make sure that:

THEY NEED A PROGRAM

I have been in plants where, because of small size, system simplicity, or the type of operation, they have little need for IR thermography. They may not even own the building or the machinery.

THEY WANT A PROGRAM

Some plant engineering staffs have what psychologists call "Learned Helplessness". Every time they start a new program, it soon falls into non-use. As a result, they do nothing new. This is in part due to the fact that they do not obtain adequate funding for a program at the beginning. They either underestimate the costs, overestimate the savings, or both.

Also, there may be a serious institutional budgetary or attitude impediment. Here is a shining example:

I was surveying a large plant's switchgear and bus duct distribution system, when I noticed plastic (visquene) covering parts of the bus duct. So during lunch, I was talking with the plant facilities maintenance engineer about his roof. He told me that he had used infrared roof moisture surveys successfully at a previous employer's plant, and knew that they had problems there. However, if we defined say 10%-20% of the roof as needing repairs, those monies would be taken from his limited maintenance budget. On the other hand, if he waited a few more years, that a re-roof project would be a "capital expenditure" not effecting his budget ... How can anyone argue with this kind of logic!?

Also, on more than one occasion, I have actually had to explain, why we need to inspect the plant's utility substation(s), even though they are not owned or maintained by the plant.

THEY CAN AFFORD A PROGRAM

Some plants are constantly on the brink of bankruptcy. Before setting up a program to reduce downtime, there has to be a reason for uptime. A plant that produces 1/lOth of it's capacity, has plenty of downtime to repair anything that fails. Besides, the attitude of the personnel at these plants is not conducive to proactive maintenance. Also, they may not even have a maintenance staff, and there is no need to try and convince them otherwise.

THEY WANT TO DO IT IN-HOUSE

For the sake of argument, let's say that they know that they need a program, want to implement one, and have, by some means, obtained adequate funding. They may still want to hire out the thermography.

Here are some reasons:

Next, they will have to outlay $70,000.00-$100,000.00 to buy hardware and software which may be antiquated in 3-5 years or sooner.

Now training for the thermographer and administrator. This is an absolute necessity. There goes a minimum of two weeks per year, per person, away from the plant, plus the expenses (add two-three more weeks if they are inclined to write papers!). Will these people decide to leave in a year or so?

I) DIMINISHING RETURNS
I always start with the plant's substation(s) & main switchgear, then trickle down to the less important circuits. Generally, from "the mains and down", is the way that I prioritize. With every item below the mains, a smaller return on investment is realized. Deciding what items to inspect with an imager, what items to trend with a spot radiometer (See Section G on Page 10), at what frequency to inspect, (the greatest payback is realized on the first survey or inspection) and what item~ not to inspect at all, will be the most difficult task facing the IR/PM program manager. Of course, some items simply do not warrant inspection. Although the office staff might disagree, the 110V receptacle for the plant's only decent copying machine cannot be a justifiable item for infrared camera time. But what about the receptacle for the plant's operations computer?

MIXED REVIEWS
Because of the diversity of my client's operations, different corporate structures, geographical and political make-ups; one standard formula does not seem to work for all. I have had different results with virtually every plant. Even with different plants in the same division, the results vary.

In preparation of this paper, I spoke with many of my end-users about how they are progressing. This is what they told me:

Of course, my plans for them do not always work out. Because of lots of factors, I may not have a seminar (although I always make some type of a report presentation). Sometimes a key player is not at the plant when I am there. Some have more pressing issues to deal with at the time, like a new installation or dealing with production or personnel problems. And there are some biding the time to retirement, some that are just interested in checking a box on a form or doing it because their insurance group said to. If the potential client is just checking off a box on a form, they usually decide I am not the guy they want to do their Survey, when I am on the phone with them prior to the job and I start telling them things such as: I need most all the covers off, let's talk with the production people and get the job scheduled when we can get as much equipment under load as possible, and I need 4 hours for the Report & Seminar.

Fortunately, I do not have to deal with too many of these problems. Just the fact that I am there, is an indication that they approve of my methodology and want to improve the plant's efficiency.

For the most part I have had success. After proofreading this paper, my former employer/mentor, Lee Allen (Allen Applied Infrared Technology), told me that I should add here that, what works for me, may not work for everyone. But overall, I am pleased with the results that I have had. I do not expect them to progress at the speed of infrared light. I have no problem with having a seminar for them when I perform my services, when they change personnel or whenever else they want me to.

I consider how to use a spot radiometer to be a detail, far less important than program development and what to inspect. First, they have to know why (have a program), what (items to include in the program), when (frequency of inspection), & where (areas of greatest potential improvement). Then we can worry about how to get repeatable temperature measurements.

Infrared Thermography has a big advantage over other predictive technologies insofar as it is immediate, graphic, relatively easy to understand. A successful IR/PM program can be a springboard to justifying other PM programs. They will be using these technologies in the future, I want them think of me as the catalyst for taking them to true predictive maintenance status and eventually proactive maintenance. I encourage them to use other predictive technologies, e.g., vibration for motors and drive systems, and ultrasonics for steam and air systems.

CONCLUSIONS
New applications are being discovered constantly for infrared technologies. Infrared Thermography seems to be limited only by the imagination of those using it.

Infrared Thermography is a useful tool for predicting failure on electrical/mechanical equipment. All this equipment has one thing in common: it dies a death of heat. When failing, this equipment may have an increase in work, it may vibrate, it may make noise, but it always heats up. The methodology for finding problems before they become failures, is being refined by users in the industry. The main problem with an IR/PM program, indeed predictive maintenance in general, is that it works only when used to Plan preventive maintenance activities, and that these activities are carried out prior to equipment failure.

I am trying to help my clients to predict failures on all of their equipment, not just equipment that I report as having thermal anomalies. With this in mind, I bring to their plants the next best thing to me being there full-time. That is, a starter program for them to take Infrared Thermography in their plants, as far as they see fit.

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Stockton Infrared 

Stockton Infrared
Thermographic Services, Inc.

8472 Walker Mill Road
Randleman, NC 27317
1-800-248-7226
Copyright 1999-2005. All rights reserved.