If the recent hot weather has shown us anything, it is the fact that the UK struggles to cope with extreme temperatures.
How did your site fare?
Overheating in drives causes electronic equipment failure and we have seen an increase in calls seeking advice on how to keep drives cool to prevent unwanted downtime.
Our MD, Glen Hickman’s favourite phrase is – “Keep them cool, keep them running” and for him, there are 3 main areas to focus on:
- Control panel vents – Ensure both the top and bottom vents are dirt and grease free. Clean vents allow cooler air to be drawn in through the bottom and warmer air to escape from the top, keeping the inside of the panel as cool as possible.
- Drive fans & filters – It is vital that these are regularly checked to ensure they are kept as clean as possible, especially if they are operating in a dusty or greasy environment. In some cases we would recommend a monthly check-up of these parts as well as maintaining equipment to meet the manufacturers recommended service schedule.
- Location – Where do you house your drive population? Do the control panels all sit together in a small room? Poor ventilation within this room can lead to hot air being retained and continually circulated through the drives, increasing temperatures throughout the day. If this is the case, a good ventilation system may be needed. Ducting can be installed to extract the hot air and protect your drives from overheating.
Out of the 3 points above, we feel that the location of your control panels is often the one that is overlooked or deemed as something you “have to live with”.
However, we have recently been working closely with a specialist ventilation company on a number of projects and are seeing that with a relatively small investment, conditions can be improved enough to protect uptime.
If you would like to know more about keeping your drives cool and keeping them running, please give our drive experts a call on 024 7655 3303 or drop an email to sales@sentridge.com.
