Running a thermographic electrical survey programme
A thermographic electrical survey programme uses an infrared camera to scan energised switchgear, busbars, connections and motor terminations on a routine schedule, finding hot spots that signal loose or corroded joints and overloaded circuits. Findings are graded by severity and fed into the work-order system before they fail.
What it is
Infrared thermography detects the heat produced by abnormal electrical resistance — typically a loose, corroded or undersized connection — long before it fails. A programme defines which assets are surveyed, how often, the load conditions under which they must be scanned to be meaningful, and a severity grading that converts a temperature rise into a prioritised repair action.
Why it is done
Loose and degraded electrical connections heat up, eventually causing nuisance trips, equipment damage or fires. They are invisible to a visual inspection but obvious to an infrared camera. A scheduled survey programme catches these faults while a planned repair is still cheap, avoiding unplanned outages and the safety risk of an electrical failure on live equipment.
How it is done
Critical electrical assets are listed and a survey route built, with safe access and covers arranged so live components can be viewed. Scanning is done under representative load, since an unloaded circuit shows no fault, and ambient and emissivity are noted for accurate readings. Each anomaly is logged with its temperature rise and graded into severity bands that dictate how quickly it must be repaired, then raised as a work order and re-scanned after the fix.
- List electrical assets
- Build survey route
- Scan under load
- Grade by severity
- Raise work orders
- Re-scan after repair
What to watch for
Surveying equipment at low load hides faults that only appear under heat, and comparing absolute temperatures without accounting for emissivity and ambient gives misleading severities. Treating the survey as a tick-box exercise without closing out the findings wastes the inspection entirely.
Related practices
Transitioning to condition-based maintenance
Rolling out reliability-centred maintenance
Running an asset criticality ranking exercise
Related topics
Thermography (Infrared Inspection) · Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) · Predictive Maintenance (PdM)
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