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Technitrol Uses PEARL Inspection and Test Standards to Get RR Donnelley Transformer Up and Running in 36 Hours December 2011 Also available in PDF format.
AURORA, CO - When RR Donnelley, one of the world's largest publishers and printers, lost one of two 2500 kVA transformers at their Appleton, WI plant, the cards were stacked against a quick return to service. The failure happened on Saturday night. The transformer was 40 years old and had an unusual 34,500V primary with 4160Y/2400 secondary. Temporary power would take days to install, and the nearest replacement was four weeks away.
But that was before they called PEARL member Technitrol, Inc. (Germantown, WI).
"The plant had already sent the workers home because they didn't have any power," explains Jim Feilbach, Technitrol President. "They usually run shifts 24/7, so they were losing a lot of productivity. Running a generator would have taken a lot of site preparation, if they could find a generator to match their needs, at a cost of $10,000 per week plus fuel. Luckily, we had a compatible 5000 kVA transformer on hand with the correct primary and secondary voltages, as well as the PEARL Inspect & Test standards to test the performance of the unit before we shipped it to the facility."
Technitrol had purchased a comparable ABB transformer 18 months prior and kept it in inventory for just such an occasion - not an uncommon situation for the independent electrical reconditioners and distributors that make up the PEARL membership. After taking the call on Saturday night from long-time customer Mike Choudoir, Vice President of Steinmetz Corp., an electrical field service and engineering company, and confirming through his online inventory that Technitrol had a replacement in stock, Feilbach called in his technicians and got to work.
"We did all the oil and gas tests - including PCB, TTR, winding resistance, and dielectric absorption - as well as the electrical and physical tests outlined in PEARL Inspect & Test standards 2220 and 2230 [Medium Voltage Transformers Pad Mount Oil-Filled and Gas-Filled, respectively]," says Feilbach. "We arranged for a 300-ton crane with 80-feet of boom to lift the old ITE transformer from its location in the center of the plant at the same time we delivered the replacement transformer - no small task in a 40-mile-per hour wind! Working with Steinmetz, we were able to get their customer up and running by 11 p.m. Sunday night, just 36 hours after the original transformer failed."
Steinmetz's Choudoir couldn't have been more pleased with Technitrol's response and confidence that the transformer had been tested to PEARL's standards.
"We always appreciate Jim's willingness to pick up the phone at any time and use his contacts to find the equipment we need," says Choudoir. "That, plus the fact that the product is tested before delivery, takes the worry out of getting a piece of dead equipment. The customer is already upset because their plant's down, and getting a piece of DOA equipment doesn't make things better. We've counted on Technitrol a lot in the past. They have always come through for us."
As an added bonus to the time and money savings that Technitrol delivered through the I&T-tested surplus transformer, RR Donnelley now can count on additional power for future expansion, or have the ability to run their plant should the remaining original 2500 kVA transformer fail.
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