Maintenance, Repair & Operations

Repairs and Risk Reduction

Feb. 20, 2018

Perform an engineering analysis and decide how to reduce the risk of that same failure before a downtime situation occurs.

Mark Lamendola

The traditional mind-set about a repair is the equipment is down and you must get it running again. With this mind-set, the risk of that same failure does not change.

Why was it down, and will your repair reduce the likelihood of a repeat? In the typical downtime situation, there is not time to perform an engineering analysis and decide how to reduce the risk of that same failure. Therefore, think this out ahead of time.

Consider motor vibration, for example. A common cause of this is soft foot, which, in turn, is caused by improper torqueing of the motor mounting bolts. That’s one issue to address when repairing a motor vibration problem; replace the mounting hardware and torque to the specified value. Make a list of common motor vibration causes and create a procedure or checklist that includes all of them. When there’s a vibration issue to repair, the equipment is already down so check the alignment, replace the mounting hardware, etc.

Motor vibration is just one failure cause that costs plants big money. What are common failure causes at your plant? What are the failure modes for your critical equipment?

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.