Best maintenance approaches for heavy equipment

What Source of Maintenance Suits your Operation?

In facility operation or any production using heavy machinery, equipment can and will need repairs. Maintenance managers often implement different strategies to incorporate into maintenance plans to prevent problems from occurring. Typical approaches for heavy equipment maintenance include preventive maintenance or corrective maintenance. Each one has pros and cons that make them appealing to maintenance managers as they determine what will work for them.

What is Preventive Maintenance?

Planned maintenance or PM is beneficial for a company to safeguard against unexpected instances. Preventive maintenance is a proactive approach to facility operation involving regularly scheduled inspections. The goal of preventive maintenance is to increase equipment efficiency, reduce untimely failures and prolong equipment lifespan. This can consist of tests, repairs, and even replacements of components in critical conditions.

Regularly scheduled planned maintenance is an effective proactive solution to prevent hazards in the plant/facility and protect workers. One disadvantage of preventive maintenance is the higher upfront costs to keep equipment well maintained. Additionally, it may not be the most suitable option for older, less critical assets were replacing it is better than repairs.

What is Corrective Maintenance?

Corrective maintenance is performed when a breakdown occurs between scheduled preventive maintenance occurrences. Not to be confused with Reactive maintenance, which is performed if a breakdown occurs because a maintenance strategy has not yet been put in place.

The goal of corrective maintenance is to maximize the effectiveness of all equipment, eliminate unnecessary repairs and minimize production downtime for those repairs. Corrective maintenance can be divided into three different types, Remedial, Deferred and Shutdown maintenance:

• Remedial maintenance: The process of eliminating the source of failure without interrupting production.
• Deferred Maintenance: The process of delaying action to not affect the production negatively
• Shutdown corrective maintenance: The process of set corrective maintenance activities performed when the equipment is shut down completely to fix the problem.

Corrective maintenance is better for low operational expenses because it decreases shutting down production for unnecessary repairs or inspections. However, the disadvantage is that nothing is done until equipment performance issues arise. This unpredictability can then adversely cause interruptions to be longer than expected or create hazardous situations for workers.

A Solution that works for Both Maintenance Approaches: Fluorescent Leak Detection

Whether using preventive maintenance or corrective maintenance Fluorescent Leak Detection can be a solution for both.

Fluorescent leak detection or UV leak detection – is visually intuitive, cost effective and extremely efficient for helping leaking hydraulics or facility maintenance. Technicians can safely scan near moving parts to easily detect all leak types. In addition, Spectroline UV leak detection dye will safely circulate with the oil, decreasing the time it takes to locate the leak when an issue arises, especially if incorporated earlier in the system’s life. UV dye from Spectroline is the only sure way to visually spot all leaks, especially if you are having difficulty locating them. It even has options in the product line to color code equipment for a clear way to identify where leak is coming from, resulting in a faster diagnosis and production running again. For corrective maintenance scenarios, fluorescent leak detection can also be a great solution. When used as an accompanying maintenance tool, UV dye can easily work with any of the corrective maintenance methods.

Fluorescent Leak detection can help detect degradation failure in its early stages and even delay transient or avoid catastrophic failure when used with planned or reactive maintenance. Protecting the equipment and the operation to recover and stay on track. It is a quick and cost-effective solution worth investing and to have on hand for a faster diagnosis.