Checking electrical boxes is an important but dangerous process. However, there’s a way to make it a lot safer!
Ever heard of an IR window? These handy installations are designed to be implemented directly into electrical boxes that need constant maintenance, and provide the user with an easy way to check the internal components of an electrical box are in tip-top working order.
So how do they work? By installing an IR window, this means that the engineer tasked with analysing the electrical box doesn’t actually have to open it up and risk electrocution, and can instead use a thermal imaging camera through the installed IR window, gain a thermal image and then see if anything internally isn’t performing as efficiently as it should be.
It’s a much more useful way of analysing inside the cabinet, as opening up the cabinet means it often has to be turned off, or the user has to risk being shocked. When turned off, this means that the cabinet in question isn’t actually cycling electricity through it, which means the reading gained by the thermal camera won’t be actually as accurate as it should be.
By using an IR window, the electrical cabinet can be kept running while the thermal reading is being taken, meaning any thermal images received will be much more accurate than those taken while the electricity is down. It also means there has to be no downtime as a result of testing, which is always handy!
