i found out today that a company in durban is going around telling my customers and potential customer that i dont have the correct qualifications to carry out thermal inspections on electrical panels...mmm so let me think carefully about this.
to become a level 1 thermographer takes 1 week...yes people 1 week...which is the "RECOMENDED" qualification requirement...it is NOT A LEGAL REQUIREMENT"
level 2...2 weeks
firstly before i carry on...there is no legilastion in south africa which indicates that you have to have any qualifications not even a minimum of a level 1 before you are qualified to carry out thermal inspection...if their is please post it because i need to see.
secondly the course which are run in south africa arent worth the paper they are written on according to various individuals i have spoken to with regards to this issue...hence no regulations in the industry...i dont know the facts unfortunatley so dont take my word for it.
now here is the question...
would you rather have a person who has no electrical backround experience and only a qualification which took 1 week maybe even the 2 week course to complete which might not even be worth the paer it is written on...who is writting recommendations as to what action should be taken to repair the hotspot...which could by the way cost you in exccess of R10 000.00 to replace...it some factories we are talking much larger amounts.
or would you rather have a person who has 28 years practical hands on experience in the commercial and industrial electrical field...is a qualified as a master electrician..been involved in designing, installing and maintaining electrical panels and switchgear for almost 20 years...designed,wired, connected and tested factory electrical installations...been involved in commercial building, installation and maintenance...have 5 years hands on experience in power quality fault finding and preventitive maintenancece projects...have 5 years of prior experience in doing repairs to commercial electrical installations according to other thermographers reports (which by the way was the reason i started doing it myself...because of the incorrect assesment and repair recommendation)...been doing thermography for 5 years and the repairs to the installations...spent almost 2 years studying thermography...watching seminars on the internet etc...just havent done the course because i dont have a week to waste sitting on course and quite franky i dont believe would teach me any more than i already know...and what i dont know have the backing of fluke personel who have level 3 thermography to assist me....just to mention a few points...i could carry on but wont bore you with details.
be honest....who would you choose?
if you think i am not skilled enough or qualified to do electrical thermal inspection please let me know....because this is a huge problem for me...as i have issued reports and might have to pay a company which has a level 1 thermographer regardless of their electrical background to redo all the reports i have done recently.
by the way since 2005 i have never had a come back on a report or repair i have done...they have always been spot on predictions...and this i can prove because i return and do followup inspections...how many thermographers do this?
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