Regular IR Scans Keep the Lights On:

Electric companies must have reliable power lines to provide their customers with the service they expect and deserve. Unfortunately, when lightning arresters fail, the whole system hangs in the balance. Regular inspections can help prevent power outages by detecting bad lightning arresters in substations and faults in distribution lines.

Now at the Sumter Electrical Cooperative, transmission lines, distribution and transmission substations and distribution power lines are scanned on regular schedules. Anomalies are tracked and fixed at the most convenient and cost effective intervals. Equipment that is showing signs of wear and tear is tracked, and does not have the opportunity to fall through the cracks.

This new predictive maintenance system has helped to take the guesswork out of Sumter Electric’s daily operation. IR imaging makes it possible to identify overheated lightning arresters quickly and accurately, long before a problem arises. And now, FLIR’s state of the art ThermaCAM Reporter software makes saving images and tracking patterns easier than it’s ever been, allowing thermographers to make even better use of their IR investment.

Courtesy of Richard Strmiska, Sumter Electric Cooperative, in Inframation 2003 Proceedings