Product Demonstration Saves Lives:
Safe-T-Rack System Identifies Dangerous Equipment Fault During Product Demo
Safe-T-Rack System Identifies an Issue
The Safe-T-Rack Sales team routinely travels to perform product demonstrations and introduce potential customers to our remote racking systems. We enjoy the opportunity to showcase the system’s portability and capability in real-world scenarios, often operating de-energized equipment in the field using our smart drive bracket, motor drive unit, and handheld controller.
Recently, during a demonstration of the STOUT remote racking system (an M18 system designed for racking Magneblast vertical breakers), the Safe-T-Rack system did not immediately perform as expected.
The sales engineer on site was presenting Safe-T-Rack for a facility’s 5kV GE Metal Clad M26 gear operating 250 VDC. The Safe-T-Rack Smart Drive Bracket was placed on the breaker and the motor drive unit locked into position, but when the sales engineer asked the system to operate, it returned an error. Puzzled, the engineers on-site and our sales engineer re-assessed the setup of the system. When everything was confirmed to be in the correct position, they again attempted the remote racking process. Again, an error was returned.
This system behavior turned out to be an important and life-saving Safe-T-Rack software feature. When the Safe-T-Rack remote racking system returned an error and failed to operate, the remote racking system was identifying an issue with the facility’s equipment that – if not addressed – could have resulted in dangerous consequences.
Diagnosing the Issue
With the help of a limit switch pin testing device, the facility engineers and our sales engineers assessed the equipment. The limit switch testing device revealed that the equipment in question was improperly grounded. As the switchgear elevating system does not have a ground monitoring meter or alarm system, operators at the facility were unaware of the issue. The manual elevating motor would have continued to operate, but the breaker-specific STOUT software in the Safe-T-Rack system – programmed to operate within specific parameters – responded to the faulty ground immediately and returned an error.
Safety is always at the forefront of design and engineering practices at Remote Solutions, and all applications, software, and products are created with the goal of protecting equipment operators from arc flash risk. The Safe-T-Rack system is programmed to operate with properly installed and maintained equipment, which protects operators – a system design that also allows Safe-T-Rack to uncover equipment issues that may have gone unnoticed. Thanks to these software parameters and safeguards, Safe-T-Rack protects both facilities and operators from potentially dangerous situations.
Safe-T-Rack Saves Lives
By the end of this STOUT demonstration, the facility was able to identify and address a faulty grounding issue in their equipment, the engineers on site were able to see firsthand how the Safe-T-Rack system is able to safeguard operators using complex software parameters, and more teams were protected from arc flash risk by Safe-T-Rack – even before the product was officially installed and in use in this location.
For more information about Safe-T-Rack remote racking systems, contact our team today!
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Product Demonstration Saves Lives
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