ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE SKILLS

COURSE 110: 12 DAYS

This course is designed to provide basic electrical skills to those who need to perform first-line electrical maintenance tasks – including the safe isolation, replacement and testing of a range of common electrical devices (motors, sensors, heating elements, solenoids, etc.) – in a safe and effective manner. Importantly, the format of the course is specifically designed so that, when combined with suitable on-site consolidation of training, it will assist the maintenance manager in meeting the legal requirements for employee competence in electrical work.

PARTICIPANTS

No prior electrical knowledge is assumed. The structure and content of the course is aimed at those who currently fulfil a maintenance role, for example mechanical fitters. Many companies use this course to help introduce flexibility to their workforce, as part of a multiskilling programme.

Candidates with previous electrical experience (for example instrument engineers, electronics engineers, or those that have gained the necessary knowledge of electrical principles from elsewhere can attend a shortened version of this course: please see Course 120: Electrical Maintenance Skills for Instrumentation Personnel.

COURSE PRESENTATION

One of the practical exercises that candidates perform on the Electrical Maintenance Skills Course: Measuring the winding resistance of three-phase motors to determine their serviceability

The course has an extensive ‘hands-on’ practical approach, placing emphasis on safe working practice and on the development of useful, practical skills. Comprehensive course notes are provided.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

On completion of the course, participants will be able to

practice safe working methods on electrical systems
understand the relevant regulative requirements
demonstrate an understanding of electrical principles and units
identify a wide range of electrical equipment & devices and understand their principles of operation / connections
understand the principles of earthing / protection and associated protective devices
demonstrate an understanding of electrical systems, switchgear and circuit types
work with a range of cable types and carry out correct terminations and connections
recognise the most common industrial motor types and understand their operation, connections and maintenance requirements
use electrical test equipment effectively and carry out testing of a range of motors, solenoids, cables, etc. (using insulation, continuity, tong testers, etc.)
identify motor and power circuit faults
use circuit diagrams as an aid to maintenance
take precautions when resetting overloads etc
perform electrical isolation, testing for dead, etc on a wide range of devices and circuits safely.

Successful completion of the course leads to the award of Amicus / Technical Training Solutions competence certificate 110: Electrical Maintenance Skills.

The Consolidation Scheme allows candidates to practice their new skills at work, generating all the necessary evidence for their competence
This course is particularly suitable for our on-site consolidation scheme, which enables candidates to practice their newly acquired skills in the workplace. For more information on the scheme, please contact us.

Contact us for more information on how the electrical maintenance skills training course leads to competence in performing first-line electrical work such as competently isolating single-phase and three-phase systems and removing and replacing electrical devices

What do candidates on the electrical maintenance skills course actually do?

During Week 1 of the course, candidates learn about basic electrical principles. This grounding in the fundamental concepts ensures a full understanding of the technical and safety issues in the later stages of the course.

Candidates learn in a practical way about ohm's law, series and parallel circuits etc, seeing at first hand what the relationships are between voltage, current and resistance. We ensure that this part of the course is kept interesting and relevant to the objectives of the course by avoiding any unnecessary theory and introducing some commonly-used industrial components, whilst using multimeters to make measurements, exploring the basic electrical principles as they go.

To achieve this we have constructed exercise boards with industrial switches, sensors, relays, contactors etc so that they can build circuits. make measurements using digital multimeters, gain familiarity with the components and learn about the principles in a structured, interesting and enjoyable way.

Our custom-designed basic circuits rig allows candidates to build basic electrical circuits and learn about electrical principles whilst familiarising themselves with the basic electrical components in week 1 of the electrical maintenance skills training course This is page 14 from book 1 of the course notes for the electrical maintenance skills training course We use Fluke multimeters on the electrical maintenance skills training course

In Week 2 they build on the fundamentals by learning about electrical dangers and protection methods; the principles of earthing, the effects of electric shock, fuses, circuit breakers, RCDs and other related issues. They also learn about the Electricity at Work (EAW) Regulations and how these might affect their future work - exploring issues like live-working, competency, etc.

We teach them the right way to prepare and terminate cables into plugs and sockets, how to use professional crimp tools to crimp conductors properly, and whilst doing this we can ensure that they are able to use the relevant tools correctly.

We provide the candidates with all the necessary tools during the electrical maintenance skills training course We use professional crimping tools on the electrical maintenance skills training course Candidates terminate a range of connectors in week 2 of the electrical maintenance skills training course, amongst them industrial three-phase plugs

They also learn why and how to use insulation and continuity testers, for which we have developed simulation units so that once they are able to use the testers properly to check cables, accessories and current-using equipment, they then apply their skills to finding open circuits, short circuits and insulation breakdowns within specially constructed test circuits. This allows them to gain some basic electrical faultfinding skills, developing their skills and understanding of the fundamentals further.

This is page 52 from book 2 of the course notes for the electrical maintenance skills training course We use professional insulation resistance / continuity testers on the electrical maintenance skills training course We have designed rigs for the candidates to practice their electrical fault-finding skills in week 2 of the electrical maintenance skills training course

We then teach the candidates about three-phase motors: how they work, identification features, terminal configuration, testing, etc, whilst using their knowledge of voltage, current and resistance to understand the principles of induction.

This is page 62 from book 2 of the course notes for the electrical maintenance skills training course This is page 69 from book 2 of the course notes for the electrical maintenance skills training course

In Week 3 we then introduce industrial control panels with DIN-rail mounted components like MCBs, fuses, contactors, overload relays, timers, switches and lamps. The candidates build some basic industrial electrical circuits - for example from simple DOL to star/delta starters - giving them the experience of recognising each of the components, their markings and terminal identifications, the differences between the load and control circuits etc, in an engaging way that they really enjoy.

Candidates are provided with a range of industrial circuit breakers, contactors, timers and overload relays with which to build the circuits that we give them in week 2 of the electrical maintenance skills training course This is page 44 of book 3 of the course notes for the electrical maintenance skills training course We have designed a special training rig so that the candidates actually build the circuits that we give them, using real industrial components, following the circuit diagrams provided in week 3 of the electrical maintenance skills training course

The candidates can then (before connecting these circuits up to our custom-manufactured 3-phase 40 Volt motors) inspect and test their prepared units, ensuring that the circuits have been interpreted correctly. We have developed a three phase 40-volt ac supply to power these systems so that all this can be done safely.

This is our specially-designed three-pase 40 Volt ac supply: It generates its output from a single-phase mains supply, so that we can provide the course without needing a three-phase supply for the electrical maintenance skills training course This is one of the specially-wound 40 volt three-phase motors used on the electrical maintenance skills training course

Candidates are then presented with various scenarios, to which they apply their knowledge of how a safe isolation should be performed on a practical working electrical circuit.

This is page 31 of book 3 of the course notes for week 3 of the electrical maintenance skills training course We use professional voltage testers and proving units on the electrical maintenance skills training course

If you would like to see some of the equipment used on the electrical maintenance skills course for yourself, then please call us to arrange a visit to our base in Kent. Alternatively, our customer liason staff can visit you with demonstration parts anywhere in the British Isles.