Your plant manager sent you to a sister plant in response to that plant manager’s unhappiness with the electrical testing firm they switched to. Not only did this firm take longer than the other firm used to, they generated a much larger list of “need to replace” cables than the old firm ever did.
Phil, the plant manager of the sister plant, wants to know if there’s a way to pick out the “real” problem cables from the list. He’d asked the testing firm to do this, and they insisted all of the cables should be replaced at the next scheduled shutdown. Phil wants to have another firm re-do the work. Where do you start?
Some firms perform electrical testing work as a side line, without adequate knowledge of the industry standards and what testing is required. Look at each firm’s testing program. The fact that the new firm took longer is a good clue they were more thorough.
See if the old firm performed only insulation resistance testing. If so, they missed cable problems that should have been identified. Several other tests are needed to ascertain the true condition of cables.
If the new firm differed because its program includes the full array of recommended tests, advise Phil to replace those cables and retain this firm for the next time around.
