Marine Online
Understanding the need to take necessary safety
precautions during maintenance for the
electrical installations before
attempting any electrical work there are
some basic precautions you must bear in
mind the possible dangers arising from
the misuse of electrical equipment are
well known electric shock and fire
caused loss of life and damage to
equipment regulations exist to control
the construction installation operation
and maintenance of electrical equipment
in order to reduce the element of danger
as much as possible where danger arises
it is usually due to accident neglect
off another contravention of the
regulations electrical equipment and
services and board ships must meet the
minimum standards specified by the
various national and international
organizations the standards specified by
the various organizations are met when a
ship is designed built approved and
classified it is the ship owner and is
staffs responsibility to maintain the
vessel and its electrical equipment in
compliance with the requirements of the
classification society throughout the
ship's lifetime the periodic electrical
survey every four years is for checking
that the installations meet the
requirements the classification society
the ship's staff must operate equipment
in a safe manner and maintain it in a
safe condition at all times failure to
do so is dangerous and could have
disastrous consequences the ship staff
should keep in mind an essential list of
do's and don'ts when working on
electrical equipment do get to know the
ship's electrical system and equipment
study the ship's diagrams
to pinpoint the location of switches and
protection devices supplying
distribution boards and essential items
of equipment right down this information
in a notebook note the normal indication
from switchboards instruments so that
abnormal operation can we quickly
detected do operate the equipment
according to the manufacturer's
recommendations do maintain equipment
according to the manufacturer's
recommendations or the ship owners
maintenance procedures do check that
circuits are dead by using a voltage
tester before touching conductors and
terminals do switch off and lock off
supplies remove fuses and display
warning notices before removing
equipment covers prior to maintenance to
ensure that all guards covers and doors
are securely fitted and that all bolts
and fittings are fitted and tightly
secured don't neglect or abuse equipment
don't leave conductors or rotating parts
exposed don't touch rotating parts don't
touch live conductors under any
circumstances you should think safety at
all times and developed an attitude of
safety consciousness this may well save
your life from the lives of others most
accidents occur due to momentary loss of
concentration or attempt the
short-circuit standard safety procedures
do not let it happen to you nearly
everyone has experienced an electric
shock at some time at best it is an M
pleasant experience at worst it is
faithful anyone who has access to live
electrical equipment must be fully
familiar with first aid and safety
procedures related electric
och as described in relevant safety act
copies of these safety procedures should
be displayed on board ship electric
shock is caused by the flow of current
through your body this is often from
hand to hand off from hand to foot a
shock current as low as 15 milli amp AC
or DC may be fatal obviously the size of
the shock current is related to the
applied voltage and your body's
resistance and fortunately your body's
resistance goes down as applied voltage
goes up this means that the shock
current is further increased at high
voltages the amount of your body
resistance also depends on other factors
such as your state of health the degree
of contact with live wires and the
amount of perspiration or dampness on
your skin typical dry full contact body
resistance is about 5,000 ohms at 25
votes fall into 2000 ohms at 250 volts
elect shock is often accompanied by
falling which may cause additional
physical injury and require first-aid
action if the shock victim is
unconscious resuscitation must take
place first before doing anything else
check the resuscitation techniques
illustrators on the electric shock
posters displayed on board all equipment
is subject to wear and tear eventually
reaching the end of its useful life when
it must be replaced as equipment nears
the end of its life its condition
determines to what an extent it poses a
danger to personnel and other power
plants the purpose of maintenance
therefore is to extend the useful life
of equipment by
air and or replacement of defective
parts and to maintain it in a safe and
serviceable condition the marine
environment is particularly arduous full
elective equipment to the damp fault
Laden atmosphere extremes of temperature
and constant vibration shitball
equipment is in particular need of
correct maintenance the continuous
operation of equipment on board a ship
demands high operating efficiency and
optimum economy in order to keep down
costs to maintain financial
competitiveness nearly all equipment
needs maintenance an efficiency engineer
or electrician must get to know his
plant he must be able to check the
ship's drawings and diagrams and relate
them to actual equipment equipment must
be kept under continuous observation so
that normal healthy operating conditions
become familiar and abnormal operation
can be quickly observed faults should be
pinpointed and corrected before
breakdown occurs caution if it is
necessary to work on live equipment and
the operator must be fully protected
only rubber gloves that are specially
made for this purpose should be used
caution always ensure that the generator
prime mover is shut down and locked off
before you begin your maintenance also
check that the generator circuit breaker
is locked off auto start circuits are
disabled and generate electric heaters
are isolated caution generator circuit
breakers must be switched off and
isolated from the best spas for
maintenance and testing name
for the generator is normally limited to
inspection and lubrication of bearings
according to manufacturers
recommendation clean the generators in
case of dirt in accordance with the
manufacturers recommendation it is
rendered that you check the generators
controlled equipment and compare them to
the test protocols delivered from the
manufacturer Limited maintenance is
generally all that is necessary in the
main switchboard however specified
maintenance on the different
manufacturers should be carried out
generally the maintenance on a main
switchboard consists of cleaning
lubrication of mechanical devices and
checking contacts note that unnecessary
tightening of contacts and terminals are
not recommended this may cause
deformations and in turn break or weaken
contacts some circuit breakers may have
pneumatic delay relays which tend to
change delay time due to dirt these have
to be cleaned and checked eventually
readjusted inspection of the instruments
accuracy may be carried out according to
maintenance schedule inspect the
generator circuit breakers in accordance
of manufacturers recommendations typical
failure on the generator may be one or
more of the following
very big