Automatic Feed Co., has announced that it has added Thermal Imaging to its service offerings for troubleshooting and diagnosis of coil processing equipment repairs. Heat can often be an early symptom of equipment issues, making thermal imaging an effective tool for preventive maintenance, helping to avoid equipment failures, extensive downtime and the associated costs.
Thermal imaging is used to produce images of the infrared energy being emitted from components, helping to detect properly energized areas as well as hot spots – areas indicating overly-high temperatures. An elevated temperature can be indicative of an internal defect, an airflow blockage, faulty coolant flow, coolant leakage or overheated water/coolant, as well as an under-performing or incorrectly performing component.
Real-World Example: During a recent preventive maintenance trip, AFCO utilized thermal imaging to evaluate equipment functionality on a blanking line. This helped the service team to identify that several stations within the current controllers were running hotter than normal, which they were able to attribute to non-functioning cooling fans. With this knowledge, the fans were replaced, thereby saving money and reducing downtime in the future. A problem like this would be difficult to identify or likely go undetected without thermal imaging.
The AFCO service department, with over 25+ years of operation, has several on-staff service technicians and engineers who are Level One Certified in Thermal Imaging technology. In addition to preventive maintenance offerings, the company offers leveler calibrations and rebuilds, pneumatic and hydraulic lubrication repairs, remote diagnostics, preventative maintenance, repair upgrades for both equipment and controls, supply of spare parts, operator and maintenance training and many others.
