What We Do
Fire Origin and Cause
Electrical failures often cause fires. Many times an "undetermined" fire for a fire investigator is actually an electrical fire, but it requires engineering expertise to determine the cause of the fire. We have been investigating fires of all kinds for over 30 years - literally hundreds of fires. We use the most up-to-date tools and techniques, but we use them with years of experience behind us.
Electrical Failure Analysis
From massive arcing inside high voltage electrical transformers the size of a house, to tiny relay or solenoid failures that lie at the root of major problems, we specialize in electrical failures. Electricity for most people is magic, but or for us, it is simply a labor of love.
Thermography
Almost all electrical failures begin with too much heat. Long before the flame, the heat shows up in thermography, and allows us to determine failures are in progress before they become catastrophic. This is a case where an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of the cure.
Of course, maybe you already have someone who can point a camera at something electrical and get a pretty picture, and you want this ability in-house. We can help you there too - with training, understanding of how to interpret infrared information, how to set up infrared reporting, how to use an infrared camera safely - everything you need to turn a relatively inexpensive tool into a valuable asset.
Litigation Support
It's pretty rare, but sometimes even our cases end up going to court. We have been very successful at avoiding that (and winning when we can't), by providing the best expert report that we can, skilled deposition response, and expert witness expertise you need - and a lot more. We will help you develop deposition questions, analyze the opposition reports, and give you all the ammunition you need from all information and disclosures to obliterate speculation, false theories, incorrect analysis - to paint you an accurate technical picture and give you the truth. That is the only thing we promise to give you, Counselor, the truth. Unvarnished. (Usually, that ends up in a "favorable" settlement.)
Heavy Equipment Failure
Heavy equipment losses take some special expertise that comes from good training and a lot of experience. We have both. It's usually a small thing that leads to big problems - in this case, faulty factory attachment on a piece less than an inch square. Who would have thought it?
Construction Failure Analysis
The bid was to finish the 36 month project in 30 months. How? Simple - two Gantt charts, one beginning at the start and going forward, the other at the end and going backwards. The six month "overlap" just happened to be when it rained, with the roof not on (Gantt #1) but the drywall installed (Gantt #2). Our job - analyze and find what happened. In this case, the contractor exaggerated their ability to finish the job in time and sued for profits when it fell apart. No, they did not win.
Electrolytic Corrosion and other Pipe Failure
Large pipelines are protected from corrosion by "cathodic protection". When it is done wrong, it can destroy copper pipes in residences for miles around. We were able to prove that several houses near such a pipeline were damaged by negligent maintenance of the cathodic protection system. We can help you. Our understanding extends to other kinds of pipe, also, of course. We had to learn, because not all leaks are electrolytic in cause.
Electrical Shock Injury
When the victim is dead, that's one thing - when he feels tingly and nervous after touching a 24-volt toilet flushing wire, that's quite another. Our experience in electrical shock analysis ranges from one extreme to the other, and everything in between. We determine why, how, who was at fault and who wasn't, and what can be done about it to prevent it from happening again. But only the truth, (unlike the doctor in that 24-volt case), no spin.
Reliability Engineering
How do you keep your equipment and plant running efficiently and most cost effectively? That's the bottom line of Reliability Engineering. This is not something that takes a day or two, but we are experts at this. We will work with your engineers over time - tutoring, instructing, teaching, helping you set up your maintenance programs and configuration control on an as-needed basis. (This one requires some negotiation on fees - we don't charge our normal rate for long term contracts.)
Code Analysis
So you have an installation that you know isn't right - but you want to do it right and you need some consultation on Code requirements. We specialize in NFPA 70 and 70E - the National Electrical Code and National Electrical Safety Code, and all the IEEE, ANSI, and other Codes that feed into them. We don't give you off the cuff answers. We research and make sure that our answers for you are correct.
Product Evaluation
An engineer alleged that if a metal oxide varistor (MOV) was subjected to slightly over its rated voltage, and cycled on and off, it would fail prematurely , causing a fire. So, we tested it. Using infrared, we could see the difference in conduction of ten “identical” MOV’s connected in parallel, and we cycled them on and off, once a second - for three months. At the end, they looked exactly the same. The product was not at fault for the fire.
Aerial Photography
Under construction...