Modular V Sealed For Life | Maintaining Ex Lighting | Cost – Part 4
Published 18 Nov 2019
Modular VS Sealed For Life
Modular V Sealed For Life
Maintaining Ex Lighting
Part 4 – Cost
In this four-part series Raytec have compared ‘modular’ and ‘sealed for life’ LED Ex luminaires, and considered how the design and certification of these different manufacturing methods impact how easily maintenance can be carried out.
In this final blog Raytec consider cost. Using the same offshore scenario for context, how will the long-term maintenance of a sealed for life fitting stack up against a modular luminaire?
Application: Offshore, Oil Rig
Scenario: A luminaire installed on the rig has failed and is no longer providing light output. The suspected cause is a failure of the luminaire’s PSU/driver.
Sealed for Life Luminaire
Transporting goods on and off a rig can be a difficult due to the nature of an offshore application. The customer will need to to pay for the luminaire to be returned to site even if the fault is covered by the warranty.
It is likely that the whole luminaire will need to be exchanged for a new one instead of just being repaired. If the cause of the PSU failure is found to a user error like over-voltage, the client will be required to pay for a whole new unit. This could be despite the fact a single, relatively inexpensive, component has caused the failure.
Modular Luminaire
On-site repair means there is no cost associated with sending the luminaire back to the manufacturer. Sometimes the PSU still needs to be sent back to the manufacturer for a closer inspection but the cost implications are far less than having to return the entire luminaire.
If the repair can’t be done under warranty the cost would still be less than if the full light fitting had to be returned to the factory.
This tells us that the lifetime cost of maintaining a modular luminaire will be significantly less than a sealed for life fitting. By minimising downtime, reducing the environmental impact, and ultimately reducing costs, selecting a modular luminaire which is maintenance friendly should therefore be a key consideration for any hazardous area lighting installation.
Raytec were the pioneers of maintenance friendly Ex lighting when first launching the SPARTAN range in 2014. Since then, every new SPARTAN product has featured the same unique modular design, with a focus on making maintenance as quick and easy as possible.
Further Reading
Modular V Sealed For Life | Maintaining Ex Lighting | What Is The Difference? – Part 1
Modular V Sealed For Life | Maintaining Ex Lighting | Downtime – Part 2
Modular V Sealed For Life | Maintaining Ex Lighting | Environmental Impact – Part 3
ELECTRICAL & PROCESS INSTRUMENTATION EQUIPMENT
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Thorne & Derrick are Specialist Distributors of Hazardous Area & Explosion Proof Equipment with IECEx & ATEX Certifications to the onshore and offshore oil, gas, petrochemicals and process industries.
Key Product Categories: ATEX Doors | Control Panels | Plugs & Sockets | Isolators | Enclosures & Junction Boxes | Lighting | Control Stations | Motor Starters | Heat Trace Cables & Systems | Gas Detection & Detectors | Fire Detection & Detectors | Heat Detectors | Electrical Heating & Heaters
Also Process Instrumentation Products: Ashcroft Pressure Gauges | ASCO Valves | Katronic Flow Meters | KROHNE Flow Meters | VEGA Level Sensors | Rotronic Temperature & Humidity Sensors | SIKA Pressure Gauges
