LV/MV Retrofit

In today’s business environment, maintenance staff are increasingly under pressure to increase up-time yet reduce costs. Plant engineers are therefore being driven to find less expensive ways to maintain and extend equipment life.

Alternative solutions for maintaining electrical switchgear include reconditioning, conversion and partial or total replacement of equipment. Upgrading switchgear by replacing old circuit breakers with new ones inside existing cubicles is known as Retrofitting (Retofit under ANSI def nitions) and is recognised as a reliable means of extending equipment life without the high costs and hazards that can be associated with total replacement.

The metal enclosures, busbars and other static components within a switchboard are often still in good condition even after years of service. As a result, the replacement of such portions of a board is often not justified. For older installations, changing of boards can also necessitate expensive civil works or moving of old cables with resulting insulation failure.

By comparison, many drawn-out main incoming and feeder circuit breakers/cradles have worn mechanisms from constant use after time. In addition, upgrades are sometimes driven by factors other than wear and tear.