There is life beyond repair and replace
It used to be relatively simple to decide whether to repair or replace an old drive, based on its running hours, cost to repair/replace and running costs. But, says Steve Hughes, strategic marketing and sales manager in ABB’s Motion Service, there are now more options to extend asset lifetimes and maximise return on investment.
When we were writing these columns 10 or 20 years ago, there used to be two main options for what to do with a drive when it needed urgent maintenance: repair it or replace it. However, in the years since, maintenance and monitoring techniques have become far more sophisticated, affording a wider range of choices to suit the specific needs of individual assets or facilities.
This brings additional factors into play such as lifecycle status and maintenance history. Taking these into consideration can help drives operators to make better choices, minimise disruption, and extract maximum value from their existing assets.
For instance, if you have a product that is becoming obsolete in the next five years, then you’re probably going to want to replace it, rather than repairing something that will soon need replacing anyway. However, if you’ve got a drive that is likely to run for the foreseeable future without incident, or if the plant around it is likely to be decommissioned in the near to mid future, then why replace it now when you can get additional years out of your asset, while also potentially improving its performance.
Reconditioning (for functioning drives) and “premium repair” (for non-functioning drives) are now options in the UK that weren’t widely available until recently. They involve replacing all ageing components, as well as any others that may need replacing soon, due to the drive’s environment and load characteristics.
An additional option may be to retrofit, replacing a complete drive module in a panel. This can be done on site. In the case of retrofitting, internal components can be upgraded, taking the drive out of its classic lifecycle phase and putting it back into an active phase. In ABB’s case, this can mean taking an older ACS800, ACS600 or Sami drive and replacing the drive or module to turn it into a newer ACS880.
The shift from reactive to proactive maintenance has opened up new opportunities for assets towards the ends of their lives, with retrofitting and reconditioning now being viable options in addition to repairing and replacing. Your drive manufacturer or approved service provider is here to help. They can tell you what options are available, and find the right one for your drive, depending on its age, condition, operation and lifecycle status, as well as any other relevant factors.
For more information about ABB’s maintenance services for drives, visit: https://campaign-mo.abb.com/l/961052/2023-04-21/4vwyv
