Maintenance, Repair & Operations

When Not to Perform Maintenance

Nov. 2, 2021

Situations exist where it’s best to skip maintenance.

Sometimes it is more cost-effective to not perform maintenance on equipment than to do so. How do you know when you encounter that situation?

The equipment has reached its recommended replacement age. Transformers, circuit breakers, and other equipment that may fail spectacularly (and dangerously) should be replaced after X years of service. You can find X in the relevant standards. After that age is reached, relying on maintenance to prevent failure is merely gambling.
The equipment needs repair often. Despite undergoing the recommended maintenance at the recommended intervals, the equipment undergoes repairs frequently. It may be defective or ill-suited to the application. Either way, performing maintenance instead of replacing equipment is sort of like airing up bald tires.
A failure would not affect safety, the environment, or the production schedule. For example, if a machine is needed for only a few hours each month, there’s probably no production hit if it breaks.
It is expensive to maintain. For example, an exhaust fan in the roof is hard to get to and unlikely to fail.

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.