In place VS send out for circuit breaker maintenance

[safspir]

I am putting this out here for thoughts on whether or not it might be more advisable to service particular circuit breakers "in place", by a qualified vendor, versus removing them and sending them out to a qualified shop to be serviced. I will not mention my employer, as the job security/political ramifications are present.

I am tasked with removing 12 circuit breakers from 3 different jobsites to be sent in for servicing. These are Westinghouse DR-150 series air breakers circa 60's vintage that have fewer than 2000 cycles on them. To remove them will involve extensive rigging, handling and shipping.

My concerns are that these are obsoleted units that are valued in the $50K plus range each. I personally feel that the risks involved of removing and reinstalling these units could lead to damages that would shut down operations for an indeterminate amount of time.

We have 2 units on hand that have been gone through (by vendor) and are ready for installation. My thoughts on this are that they could be kept in reserve for "on hand" parts while a vendor did the "in place" servicing. Another concern of mine is that the tolerances that were set in the vendor's shop might be changed by the slightest "bump" during reinstallation.

I have, "off time", contacted one vendor, who expressed grave concern about possible damage to these units from removal/shipping/reinstallation due to the unavailability of parts and/or direct replacement. They would be more than happy to either service them in their shop, or, to send a technician to accomplish the work "in place". Of course, the cost would, realistically, be more to have their tech come to us.

I am asking for, from experience, and from a cost/benefit/risk assessment, my fellow members thoughts on this situation.

Okay, any takers?

 

[Zogzog]

Well I have plenty of parts for those and even have new/surplus units in stock so they are not that hard to come by. There are also retrofit kits available to add modern trip units to these. As far as service on site, that is pretty difficult to do, to properly refirbish these they need to be completely disassembled, parts inspected and cleaned, waerable parts replaced, and new lubricants added during assembly. You can't properly lubricate them without fully disassembling.

I have a couple mobile breaker shops that have all the need equipment (Crane, parts cleaner, polisher, jigs, primary injection test, etc...) that can be parked at your facility so you don't have to worry about shipping.

http://photos.gcbsinventory.com/trailers/

 

[collies99]

Circuit breaker maintenance are typically done en-situ. Retrofit can be done on site or at an approved breaker shop.