Breakdown & Maintenance
What we do
Preventive and predictive maintenance are two halves of the same job. Preventive work is the routine: cleaning filters, checking terminations, lubricating, replacing wear parts at set intervals. Predictive work measures the machine, through vibration, temperature, insulation and motor current, so a part is changed when it starts to degrade rather than when a calendar says so.
Most plants need both. Fixed intervals suit consumables and simple wear parts. Measurement suits the expensive, critical equipment where changing a healthy bearing is waste and missing a failing one stops the line. MachineryFix starts by ranking your machines by what their failure costs, then decides which approach fits each one.
Readings only become useful once there is a baseline to compare against. The first round of measurements records how each machine looks when it is healthy; every later round is compared with it, and a reading drifting away from that baseline is the early warning.
New to this equipment? How a Belt Conveyor works
Scope
What's covered
- Asset register with each machine ranked by the cost of its failure
- Preventive task lists and intervals set per equipment type
- Vibration readings on motors, pumps, fans and gearboxes
- Thermal imaging of panels, busbars, terminations and bearings
- Insulation resistance and motor current checks on critical motors
- Trend reports that flag parts to change at the next planned stop
Failure modes
How preventive & predictive maintenance faults usually show up
Failures that give warning
Bearings, terminations, motor insulation and cooling fans usually degrade over weeks. These are where measurement pays off.
Failures that don't
Electronic components and some sensors can fail with little warning. For those, spares and backups matter more than inspections.
Heat-driven failures
Panels, drives and motors running hot fail early. Hyderabad's April to June temperatures make cooling checks the single most useful summer task.
Monsoon damage
Condensation and water ingress during the rains cause insulation and corrosion faults; checking enclosures and heaters before the monsoon prevents many of them.
First checks
What you can check first, and what needs a specialist
Safe for a plant electrician
- Keep panel filters clean and check that panel fans run, monthly in dusty plants.
- Listen to and feel motors and gearboxes for new noise, vibration or heat, and log what changes.
- Check lubrication levels and that grease points are actually taking grease.
- Note recurring alarms and trips in a logbook with dates, even if they clear on their own.
Needs lockout or a specialist
- Thermal imaging and vibration analysis, which need trained interpretation against baselines.
- Insulation resistance testing of motors and cables.
- Re-torquing power terminations, which needs the circuit isolated.
- Parameter and program backups of drives, PLCs, HMIs and CNC controls.
Local conditions
In Hyderabad plants
Hyderabad's seasons set the maintenance calendar. Before summer, panel cooling, drive fans and motor ventilation get attention because heat is the biggest single cause of electrical failures from April to June. Before the monsoon, enclosure seals, cable entries, panel heaters and earthing are checked to prevent water ingress and condensation faults.
Dust from nearby cement, stone and textile units loads filters and heatsinks faster than in cleaner environments, so cleaning intervals in some estates need to be shorter than equipment manuals suggest. Intervals are set from what the plant actually experiences, not from a generic table.
Supply quality on industrial feeders is worth logging. Voltage dips and imbalance show up as nuisance trips and early motor failures, and a record of supply events helps tell a supply problem from an equipment one.
Before the visit
What to have ready before the technician arrives
- 01List the machines that stop production when they fail; these get attention first.
- 02Collect the breakdown history for the last year if you have it.
- 03Note planned shutdowns so inspection work can be fitted into them.
- 04Find existing maintenance records, even partial ones, to set baselines from.
Verification
How the repair is checked before handover
- First readings are recorded as baselines, and later readings are compared against them.
- Findings are ranked by urgency, separating act-now items from ones to plan into the next stop.
- Intervals are reviewed against what actually failed during the period.
Parts
Boards and parts commonly involved
- Bearings, belts and couplings
- Panel filters, fans and heat exchangers
- Terminations, contactors and relays
- Backup batteries in PLCs, HMIs and CNC controls
- Lubrication system components
Job card
What the job card records
- Machines covered and checks performed
- Readings: vibration, temperature, insulation and current, with baselines
- Findings ranked by urgency
- Work done on the visit
- Items to plan into the next shutdown
Questions
Preventive & Predictive Maintenance: common questions
What is the difference between preventive and predictive maintenance?+
Preventive maintenance is done at fixed intervals whatever the machine's condition, such as changing a filter every three months. Predictive maintenance measures condition, for example vibration or temperature, and acts when the readings show a part starting to fail. Preventive is simpler; predictive avoids replacing parts that still have life left.
How far in advance can predictive checks spot a failure?+
For rotating equipment with a good baseline, bearing wear often shows in vibration readings weeks before it causes a stoppage, which is usually enough to plan the replacement into a scheduled stop. Electrical faults can give less warning. Predictive maintenance doesn't remove failures; it turns many unplanned stops into planned ones.
Do we need permanently installed sensors?+
Not usually. Periodic readings with portable instruments cover most machines. Permanent sensors make sense for critical machines that are hard to reach safely while running, or where a failure is very expensive. The choice is made machine by machine.
How often do panel terminations need re-torquing?+
Annually for most installations, more often where vibration or heavy thermal cycling is present. Terminations relax as conductors creep and connections heat and cool. It is a slow process with an abrupt end, which is why scheduled checking is far cheaper than the failure.
How do we choose the right maintenance interval?+
Start from each machine's failure history and how much its stoppage costs, not from a generic table. Machines that have failed repeatedly, or that stop production when they do, justify short intervals. Intervals should be reviewed each year against what actually failed.
Which machines should go on a maintenance schedule first?+
The ones whose failure stops production or is expensive to repair, and any that have failed repeatedly. Robust machines that rarely fail need much less attention.
Do we need expensive monitoring systems for predictive maintenance?+
Not to start. Periodic readings with portable instruments cover most machines. Permanent sensors are worth it only on critical machines that are hard to reach or very costly to lose.
Can scheduled maintenance be done without stopping production?+
Much of it can: visual checks, thermal imaging and vibration readings are done with machines running. Work that needs isolation, such as re-torquing terminations, is planned into scheduled stops.
What does a thermal survey of panels find?+
Loose or overloaded terminations, unbalanced phases, failing breakers and overheating components. These show as hot spots well before they fail, and the survey report ranks them for action.
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Written & reviewed by MachineryFix
Last reviewed — questions? Call +91 70133 33007