20 free tips for better electrical maintenance of your electrical equipment
- Phil Stevenson
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Running an industrial, mining, or commercial facility in Western Australia means your electrical equipment works hard. Often mechanical maintenance gets the focus and electrical maintenance is added in when something breaks. Just as you wouldn't wait for your car to break down so to you shouldn't just wait for your equipment to break.
The good news is that a significant proportion of unplanned electrical failures are preventable and many of the best prevention habits cost nothing but attention and consistency.
LECE has been maintaining electrical equipment across Perth's industrial, mining, and infrastructure sectors since 2019. We have found that businesses and organisations that do not have a full time electrical team can create a hybrid maintenance model that works extremely effectively to reduce cost but improve site performance.
This model relies on regular and routine "observations" by non-electrical personnel as part site routines and is an easy way to improve the reliability and safety of the facility.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is important to make the distinction between routine "observations" and electrical inspections and work. Establishing a regular cadence of observation by your inhouse production or facility team must be tempered with strong boundaries.
Establish these boundaries clearly to ensure your people do not overreach and engage in electrical inspections or work that must be carried our by a licenced electrical worker.
Non-Electrical workers or persons that do not have an electrical licence SHALL NOT access or work on electrical equipment. Any electrical inspections, and correction of identified faults shall be completed by a licenced electrician. Fines of up to $250, 000 exist for businesses that do not comply with this. More information can be found here: https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_45224.pdf/$FILE/Electricity%20(Licensing)%20Regulations%201991%20-%20%5B07-v0-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement
The Zero-Cost Electrical Maintenance Observation Habits That Actually Work
Start a simple electrical fault log
Keep a log of faults. Every electrical downtime and anomaly gets written down, the date, what was noticed, and where. It can be an excel sheet or a printed log accessible by all operators. Patterns emerge from logs that you would never notice in your head. A motor that runs warm every Tuesday afternoon tells you something your memory alone will miss.
Message us for a template fault log: Email: phil@lecegroup.com.au
Engage your operators as the first line of observation
The people who work alongside electrical equipment every day will notice when something sounds or feels different before anyone else does. Train operators to report changes in motor noise, drive response, or control panel behaviour rather than assuming it is normal. Building this habit into your culture is free and creates an early warning system that no inspection schedule can replicate.
Create a site electrical Observation checklist
Create an observation checklist for your site. Every site is different but a sample is attached below to help you get started.
Message us for an observation template: Email: phil@lecegroup.com.au
Regularly Check that all enclosure doors are properly closed and latched
An open or poorly sealed enclosure allows dust, moisture, and insects inside, all leading causes of insulation breakdown and short circuits. This check takes ten seconds per enclosure and should be part of any daily site walk. Pay particular attention after maintenance work, when doors are sometimes left unlatched. Report open doors in the maintenance log so that next time the electrician is on site they can inspect and clean any dust or moisture ingress.
Verify that ventilation paths around electrical equipment are unobstructed
Electrical equipment generates heat. Switchboards, drives, and control panels rely on airflow to stay within safe operating temperature. Check that nothing has been stacked in front of air vents, that cooling fans are spinning, and that cable penetrations into enclosures are sealed against hot air recirculation. Overheating is one of the most common causes of premature equipment failure and is almost entirely avoidable.
Clear debris and combustibles from around electrical equipment
This is both a maintenance and a safety issue. Cardboard, rags, stored materials, and flammable liquids near electrical gear create fire risk and can interfere with natural convection cooling. A clean electrical room is a safer and longer-lasting one.
Look for moisture around electrical enclosures
Water ingress is a major cause of electrical failure in Perth's industrial environments, particularly in outdoor and coastal locations. Look for condensation inside accessible enclosures such as control panels, generators and DB's, rust forming on metalwork, or water tracks on the outside of enclosures. If you find it, report it immediately. The fix is almost always cheap if caught early. Report moisture ingress into the maintenance log.
Check cable entry points and cable management for damage
Cables that are pinched, abraded, or sitting against sharp edges will eventually fail. Look at where cables enter enclosures, where they cross structural steelwork, and where they are clipped to cable trays or conduit. A damaged sheath that you can see is one that hasn't caused a fault yet. Report it before it does. Especially important around conveyors and vibrating equipment early visual checks can reduce downtime significantly. Report damaged cables into the maintenance log.
Confirm that cable and equipment labels are legible and in place
This costs nothing and matters enormously when something goes wrong. Unlabelled cables and unmarked circuits slow down fault-finding and increase the risk of mistakes during maintenance. If labels are missing or unreadable, flag it. If you have a label maker on site, replace them yourself. If not, add it to the maintenance register. You guessed it report equipment labels into the maintenance log.
Check indicator lights and alarms are functional
A panel warning light that nobody replaced three months ago is a failed safety system. At the start of each shift, a quick scan of your control panel to confirm all
indicators are working as expected is a legitimate and free maintenance activity. Faulty indicators mask developing faults from operators who depend on them. Report where faulty.
Ensure earth bonding connections are visually intact
You cannot test earth continuity without equipment, but you can look. Check that earthing conductors are connected and not corroded or physically damaged. Look for green-white corrosion at earth lugs. Look for bonding straps that have been disconnected and not reinstated after maintenance. Visual checks have a real value even without instruments.
Filters and vents
Change dust filters regularly. If filters are external and can be changed by a non electrical worker without entering the cabinet then clean them regularly. Create a roster to ensure they are getting checked and changed. Visual inspection, and cleaning with compressed air if your site has it, is free. Blocked filters are a very common and very avoidable cause of drive and panel failures in Western Australian industrial environments.
Walk the switch-rooms regularly and use your senses
Your eyes, ears, and nose are legitimate diagnostic tools. Spend two minutes in your switch-room every day. Listen for buzzing, crackling, or humming that wasn't there yesterday. Look for discolouration on panels or enclosures. Smell for burning or a distinctive hot plastic odour. These are often the earliest warnings of a developing fault, and catching them costs nothing. If you are in a non processing environment like a commercial, office or retail area weekly or monthly may be sufficient and will give you an opportunity to pick up buzzing contactors or untoward smells etc and raise it with the qualified electrician.
Confirm that isolation points are accessible and clearly identified
In an emergency or during planned maintenance, being able to isolate equipment quickly matters. Isolation switches, circuit breakers, and emergency stops should not be blocked, should be clearly labelled, and should operate correctly. Checking this during a regular site walk costs nothing and could one day prevent a serious incident.
15 Look for signs of heat damage after any unplanned trip or fault
When a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows, the cause may have left visible evidence. Before simply resetting and moving on, look and smell for for scorch marks, melted insulation, or discolouration. (Do not open the panel to investigate) If you find any, the underlying cause needs investigation before reenergisation, not afterwards.
Record motor operating temperatures during normal operation
If you have a non-contact thermometer on site take and log motor temperatures during normal operation regularly. You are establishing a baseline. When the same motor starts running ten degrees hotter than its usual operating temperature, you have advance warning of a bearing problem, a ventilation issue, or increased load before the motor fails. This is a zero-cost use of equipment you already have.
Verify that hazardous area equipment has not been modified or damaged
For facilities with classified hazardous areas the integrity of Ex-certified equipment is a legal and safety requirement, not just a maintenance preference. During regular walk-throughs, look for Ex enclosures that have been opened, unapproved modifications, or damage to certification labels. These findings require immediate reporting and should never be left unaddressed.
Visual checks on portable equipment
Get the team into the habit of checking electrical equipment before using it. Check the tag is current, check the lead for cuts or nicks and trip the RCD if using an RCD Box. Make sure the equipment is tagged out and quarantined if it fails a visual test.
Report the small things do not normalise faults
The most dangerous words in maintenance are "it's always done that." A motor that vibrates slightly, a breaker that sometimes needs two attempts to close, a light that flickers these should be treated as faults, not quirks. The cost of reporting and investigating them is a fraction of the cost of the failure they are foreshadowing. Build a reporting culture where no fault is too small to log.
Confirm that fire detection and suppression near electrical equipment is operational
Confirm that heat or smoke detectors in your electrical rooms are in service, that any suppression system is armed, and that fire extinguisher tags are current. Electrical fires develop quickly. Detection and suppression that is out of service provides no protection at all.
Review your maintenance records and identify overdue items before they become failures
If your site has a planned maintenance register set aside time each week to review what is coming due and what is already overdue. The most expensive maintenance is the maintenance that was scheduled and not done. You do not need new tools or additional budget to read a register and escalate overdue items. You need the discipline to do it.
When the Free Stuff Is Not Enough
The tips above are genuinely effective, and if consistently applied they will meaningfully reduce your unplanned failure rate. They are not a substitute for professional periodic inspection, thermographic surveys, insulation resistance testing, and formal preventative maintenance programs. However if you are presenting the electrician with a log of electrical problems you will get much better use of site time and it will make fault finding much easier.
If your site is operating without a formal electrical maintenance contract, or if your current contractor is reactive rather than proactive, the gap between what you are doing and what your equipment actually needs may be larger than you think.
At LECE, we work with industrial, mining, commercial, and infrastructure clients across Perth and Western Australia on both scheduled maintenance contracts and project electrical work. Our team holds competencies across LV electrical, EEHA, instrumentation, and controls and automation. We are based in Welshpool and operate across the Perth metro area and regional WA.
If you would like to talk through your maintenance requirements contact our team directly.
Call us: (08) 9477 3894 Email: phil@lecegroup.com.au Web: lecegroup.com.au
LECE PTY LTD is a full-service electrical contracting, engineering, and maintenance company based in Welshpool, Perth, Western Australia. We service industrial, mining, commercial, and infrastructure clients with capabilities in LV electrical, EEHA, instrumentation, controls and automation, and electrical construction.
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