Electric heating tape need to maintain?

　　The electric accompanies the heat system as the important antifreeze heat preservation equipment, its long-term reliable operation cannot be separated from the scientific and reasonable maintenance. Many users have the misunderstanding, think the electric accompanies the tropical installation can be once and for all, in fact, any electrical equipment in the long-term use process will face aging, wear and tear and so on. Appropriate maintenance not only can prolong the service life of electric heat tracing system, but also can ensure its reliable operation at the critical moment, avoid the pipeline freezing accident caused by heat tracing failure.

　　Regular inspection is the basic work of electric heat tracing system maintenance. Before the beginning of each heating season, the system should be comprehensively tested, including the measurement of insulation resistance, checking the appearance of heat tracing tape integrity, testing the function of the thermostat and so on. Insulation resistance test using 500V megohm meter, the normal value should not be less than 20MΩ, if found insulation drop, often predicts the outer sheath there is broken or aging. Appearance inspection should pay special attention to the parts that may be subject to mechanical damage, such as pipe supports, maintenance port around. At the same time need to confirm that the insulation layer is intact, because the broken insulation layer will lead to a large amount of heat loss, so that the accompanying tropical long-term overload work. These basic checks are simple, but can find more than 80% of potential problems.

　　Maintenance of the electrical system is a matter of operational safety. The junction box is the weak link of the electric heat tracing system, which needs to focus on checking the sealing performance to prevent moisture from seeping in and causing short circuit. After a long period of operation, the terminals may be oxidised and loosened, so they need to be tightened regularly and coated with conductive paste. Circuit breakers, contactors and other components in the distribution box should be checked for contact status and removal of accumulated dust. The grounding system must maintain good conductivity, grounding resistance should be less than 4 Ω. In corrosive environments, metal parts need to strengthen the rust treatment. These electrical maintenance work is best operated by a professional electrician to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

　　The calibration and maintenance of the temperature control system directly affects the energy efficiency performance. Mechanical thermostats may show deviations after 3-5 years of use and need to be calibrated with a standard temperature source. Electronic temperature controllers should be checked for measurement accuracy of the sensor probes and aged components should be replaced if necessary. Intelligent control systems require regular software updates to ensure algorithm optimisation.

　　Maintenance of the heating tape body requires professional methods. For self-limiting temperature accompanied by tropical, long-term full-power operation may lead to PTC material characteristics of the attenuation, manifested in the start-up current drop, maintain the temperature is not enough. This situation can be activated by professional equipment to partially restore its performance. Constant power heating tape should check whether the connection point of heating wire and lead wire is oxidised, which is a common high resistance failure point. When the metal braiding layer or armour layer is broken, anti-corrosion treatment should be carried out in time to avoid further deterioration. Special environment of the accompanying heat tape, such as chemical industry area using corrosion-resistant type, to focus on checking whether the outer sheath is eroded by chemical substances.

　　Maintenance of the insulation system should not be neglected. Insulation layer breakage will make the heat loss of the accompanying heat system increase by more than 30%, leading to the rise of energy consumption and overloading of the accompanying heat tape. When checking, pay special attention to the insulation integrity of valves, flanges and other shaped parts. The damp insulation material should be replaced in time, because the thermal conductivity of water is more than 20 times of the insulation material. Cracks in the waterproof outer sheath of the outdoor section should be repaired in time to prevent rainwater infiltration. Quality insulation maintenance allows the system to maintain the design thermal efficiency and avoid energy waste.

　　The record analysis of operation data is an important means of modern maintenance. Intelligent electric accompanying heat system will produce a lot of running data, including energy consumption curve, start and stop times, temperature fluctuation and so on. Through the analysis of these data, the system status can be predicted, for example, the slow decline of current may indicate the aging of heat tracing tape, and the increase of temperature fluctuation may mean the failure of thermostat. The establishment of a complete operating profile not only helps diagnose faults, but also provides a basis for optimising the operating strategy.

　　Maintenance in different environments has its own focus. Wet places should strengthen the moisture check, regular replacement of desiccant; corrosive environment to shorten the inspection cycle, focusing on the protection of metal parts; vibration areas need to check whether the fixing parts are loose; ultraviolet regions should pay attention to the anti-aging condition of the outer sheath. A well-targeted maintenance strategy is an effective response to environmental challenges. For tracer systems in critical areas, such as fire fighting pipework, it is advisable to increase the frequency of maintenance to ensure that nothing is left to chance.

　　The benefits of professional maintenance are significant. Statistics show that the average service life of a regularly maintained trace heating system can be 10-15 years, which is more than 50 per cent longer than an unmaintained system. More crucially, the reliability of a well-maintained system in the cold season is greatly improved, avoiding the loss of production downtime caused by heat tracing failure. From the whole life cycle cost point of view, maintenance investment only accounts for 2-5% of the total cost, but can avoid more than 20% of the additional maintenance expenditure, the economic benefits are very obvious.

　　With the progress of technology, the maintenance method of electric heat tracing system is also innovative. Internet of things technology realises remote monitoring and early warning, greatly improving the timeliness of maintenance; self-diagnostic function can accurately locate the fault point and reduce the time of investigation; the application of new materials prolongs the replacement cycle of key components. These technological advances are making the maintenance work of electric accompanying heat system more efficient and accurate.