Maintenance; General; Instructions For Capacitor Life - ABB VM1 Manual

M E D I U M V O LTA G E P R O D U C T S
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7. Maintenance

Maintenance serves to preserve trouble-free
operation and achieve the longest possible
working life of the switchgear. In accordance with
DIN 31 051 and IEC 61208, it comprises the
following closely related activities:
Inspection:
Servicing:
Repair:
7.1
All VM1 vacuum circuit breakers are characterised
by a simple and robust construction. They have a
long life expectancy.
There is no adverse effect on the vacuum, even
from frequent switching of operating and short-
circuit currents.
The typical life expectancy of a VM1 vacuum circuit
breaker is determined by:
• Maintenance-free, potted vacuum interrupters for
up to 30,000 mechanical operating cycles.
• Magnetic actuator mechanism, maintenance-free
under normal service conditions:
- up to 100,000 operating cycles for all breakers
with a breaking current ≤ 25 kA and a rated
current ≤ 1250 A,
- up to 50,000 operating cycles for all breakers
with a rated current of ≥ 1600 A,
- up to 50,000 operating cycles for all breakers
with a breaking current ≥ 31.5 kA.
• Maintenance-free control module with sensors
and without auxiliary switches.
• Auxiliary switch ON/OFF position signalization
(optional) up to 30,000 switching cycles.
• Withdrawable part: With careful operation and
appropriately performed inspection work, up to
1000 movement operations can be achieved. See
also IEC 60298.
Concerning detailed information about the
maintenance of the VM1 circuit breaker please
contact the ABB service.
The service life data fundamentally apply to all
components which are not directly influenced by
the operator.
Components operated manually (movement of the
withdrawable part, etc.) may deviate, depending
on how they are handled.
The servicing intervals and scope are determined
by the environmental influences, the switching
frequency and the number of short-circuit
breaking operations.
Note:
The following must be observed for all maintenance work:
• The relevant specifications in section 1.2.2.
• Notes on safety at work in section 6.1
• Standards and specifications in the country of installation.
Determination of the actual
condition
Preservation of a functional
condition
Measures to restore the
functional condition

General

Maintenance work may only be performed
by fully trained personnel, observing all the
relevant safety regulations. It is
recommended that ABB after-sales service
personnel should be called in, at least
during the performance of servicing and
repair work.
While the work is in progress, and if the
work permits, all supply voltage sources
must also be disconnected and secured to
prevent re-connection.
Note:
In order to prevent accidents (particularly injury to hands!)
extreme care should be taken during all repair work on the
operating mechanism, especially with front plate 1.1 removed.
7.1.2

Instructions for capacitor life

The following instructions shall be observed in
order to guarantee the correct function of the
capacitor/s over time:
• if the capacitor is kept on stock or warehouse for
more than 2 years without power supply feeding,
it is required to replace the capacitor.
• if the capacitor is kept on stock or warehouse for
more than 1 year and less than 2 years in/out of
temperature tolerance range (-25°C to +55°C), the
reconditioning procedure of the capacitance by
reforming must be executed.
• it is recommended to replace the capacitor every
10 years for both normal and stressed use (10000
operations) and for conditions of temperature
within -25 °C to +55 °C.
• after 15 years the capacitor must be replaced.
• for applications in which the capacitors are
installed in parallel (two, three or more), they
should belong to the same production batch
hence to have the same batch number
YYWWXXXXX (QR-CODE).
The energy of the storage capacitor can be re-
leased uncontrollably during incorrect handling!
Procedure for capacitor discharge:
1. Switch circuit breaker on.
2. Switch supply voltage off (m.c.b.).
3. Switch circuit breaker by pressing push-
buttons 3 and 4 with cycle: OFF/ON/OFF.
The "READY" lamp will go out when this
switching cycle is completed, i.e., the switch is
no longer ready for switching operations.
4. After the following waiting times the storage
capacitor will have discharged down to lower
than 15 V:
• after approx. 4 minutes for breaking currents
up to 25 kA
• after approx. 8 minutes for breaking currents
of 31.5 kA and above.
15 15