Preventive maintenance of spring applying vibration diagnostic tool- a Malaysian experience

Broad ranges of spring switchgears have been extensively used in most of Malaysian substations. Condition monitoring of hydraulic and spring switchgears have been a critical problem since the conventional methods applied failed to alert prior occurrence of faults. Recent routine reports of TNB Malaysia highlight an occurrence of 20% failures over a period of 5 year. This has lead to greater loss and high expenditure in replacing these switchgears. One of the major contributing factors in failure of hydraulic switchgears is occurrence of mechanical faults, which the conventional method of monitoring failed to detect and locate. However the recent vibration testing prevents and minimizes the breakdowns due to mechanical faults. This current vibration analysis is a noninvasive diagnostic tool applied in comprehensive monitoring of HV switchgears. This method of investigation is well ventured in many countries in Europe and USA but not yet in Malaysia. TNB Malaysia is taking the stepping stone is venturing this technology in line with our objective of seeking predictive maintenance, cost effective and reliable diagnostic tool. This paper will explore in depth the possible mechanical faults that contribute to spring switchgears failures applying vibration analysis. This paper will further interpret the results of vibration testing on 118 spring switchgears 132 kV. This, preliminary study involves interpreting the vibration signal during the event of close and open only to better understand the movement of the mechanical component during operation time enabling us to distinguish which component contributes to the fault of the switchgear.