Electrical installations are a fundamental element in the proper functioning of a home, office, commercial premises, etc. Its maintenance and repair are fundamental mainly to prevent possible failures, fatal to personal and third-party security. With proper electrical maintenance you will enjoy a safe and durable installation.
And since we do not want something bad to happen, we have designed this article so that you learn everything you need to perform preventive maintenance and small arrangements in basic electrical installations such as those in the home.
General concepts about electrical installations
Before establishing maintenance techniques and some important keys to make small arrangements, we will clarify some general concepts about electrical installations to facilitate understanding of these types of systems, their operation and proper maintenance.
Understanding these general concepts, you will manage to perform the usual maintenance and small arrangements of electrical installations in homes.
Types of electrical installations
An electrical system can be single phase or three phases. Let’s look more closely at what they consist of.
Electrical installation with single phase system. It has a form of distribution through two conductors, one phase which arrives from the local distributor, and another neutral.
This type of electrical system only feeds devices of this type, providing the consumer with only one voltage.
Electrical installation with three phase system. This system has a different distribution form to the single-phase system. The distribution is made by four conductors, three phase and one neutral.
This type of system allows feeding devices of different types that work with both single-phase and three-phase systems.
Electrical system capacity. Knowing the maximum capacity accepted by the electrical installations that you are going to fix or maintain is essential to carry out any type of work successfully.
Remember that to calculate the amperage of an electrical system you must use the formula (watts / voltage) = ampere.
You should never exceed the intensity of the current (ampere) supported by an electrical appliance.
Components of indoor electrical installations
The internal electrical installations are composed of the junction, the boards and the circuits.
Usually, in addition to being the ideal form, the splice and meter are located in an accessible place so that the meter reading and maintenance work can be performed.
The boards on the other hand, can be of different types. There are the general, auxiliary, distribution, command and control panels. Each of them fulfills a certain function within the management of electrical installations.
Finally, the existing circuits will depend on the type of system you have and its requirements.
These circuits are made up of terminals (switches, plugs, etc.), conductors (cables that allow electrical transit) and pipes (pipe type, underground, ladder by conductor holder, etc.).
The entire electrical installation is connected to the distribution networks through a connection either underground or air.
Electrical installations in homes: importance of preventive maintenance
Electrical installations are a fundamental element in the daily operation of buildings of all types: homes, commercial premises, health centres, schools, industrial buildings, offices, and much more.
By performing periodic maintenance of the facilities of these sites you get hundreds of advantages. It not only improves equipment performance, saves money and decreases energy consumption, but also saves lives.
And the lack of maintenance or inadequate repairs generate hundreds of deaths per year due to accidents related to these facilities, mainly due to electrocution or fire.
In the case of large public and private buildings there is a regulation of electrical installations that regulates the maintenance and repair of these facilities. It is mandatory and ensures the safety of people. However, at the domestic level there is no such thing.
That is why it is extremely important that the owners and inhabitants of each home are the ones who are aware of any problem with their electrical installation and are aware of the importance of keeping these systems in perfect condition.
Main maintenance functions
- Faults: with preventive maintenance you will minimize the possibility of failures.
- Beware: with actions of this type you take care and keep the electrical installations in perfect condition.
- Early detection: you will be able to detect premature aging of the facilities to prevent accidents.
Keys for the maintenance of electrical installations
Routine maintenance of electrical installations consists of performing a series of basic tasks such as visual inspections, cleaning, among others.
Within corrective maintenance you can make small arrangements aimed at preventing accidents, failures and defects of installation elements.
On an industrial and business level, there are other stages within the strategic plan of maintenance of electrical installations such as scheduled maintenance and predictive maintenance, very useful so that it is not necessary to cut the service completely, avoid prejudices in people’s health , improve the productivity of the equipment and extend its useful life, something fundamental that saves entrepreneurs a lot of money and time.
Next, we will give you some keys to keep the electrical system of your home in perfect condition and perform small repairs with total security.
- If you don’t know, don’t touch
If you don’t know, don’t touch the system since there is a high probability that something bad will happen. Electricity is something to be careful with.
- Disconnect electricity
The golden rule to make small arrangements in elements of the electrical installation of your home, is that you disconnect the electricity before starting. To do this you will have to lower the main switch of the electrical panel of the house.
- Inspection and cleaning of electrical installations: basic maintenance
One of the main maintenance tasks is the review and cleaning of certain electrical components and accessories for electrical installations.
In general, whenever you are going to clean parts of the installation make sure by a brief visual check if everything works and looks good.
If you are going to clean the distribution boards, switches and outlets, you must take certain precautions.
The first thing you should do is cut the power of the general board. Clean the boards with a dry cloth.
For the covers of switches and outlets you can use a damp cloth, remembering that you must first disconnect the power circuits of those areas. Before reconnecting the circuits, let the whole area dry.
- Lighting maintenance
The preventive maintenance of the lighting system and its switches in the indoor electrical installations consists of controlling the electrical consumption of lamps and replacement of damaged parts and devices.
For the replacement of thread lamps or fluorescent tubes you must take different precautions. Before starting, check that the problem is in the bulb and or in the installation. To do this, change the bulb to other caps.
If you check that the problem is in the bulb, you must first disconnect the electricity. If you have protective gloves for electric shocks, use them!