Power Transformers Blog – Expert Safety and Usage Info

The internet might be a great tool to find a replacement reconditioned or used 20 MVA transformer, fast. But the internet information could be deceptive and expensive. Nothing wrong or illegal, but it just might not be as good a deal as you think. Consider this example of what has happened to MIDWEST. A customer calls for a 25 MVA Transformer. Say a 138 Kv to 34.5 Kv, oil filled power transformer. And say our sell price is $300,000.00, plus freight. This should be a straight forward transaction.  And often these transactions happen fast, especially when someone has had a transformer fail. But, in this example, the buyer is a transformer ‘lister’ who marks up our price a whopping 30%.  A ‘lister’ is an entity that just lists equipment on their web site. They have no inventory themselves. They have limited technical value. They basically just have the information. This is not an indictment of all listers. Some are very good. But, in this case the ‘lister’ has been contacted by an electrical equipment dealer who also does not stock large equipment, much less large transformers. The dealer marks up the lister’s price a whopping 30% also, because he thinks the buyer just has to have the transformer. The dealer has been contacted by an electrical contractor, who also thinks he can mark it up 30%, because his customer, the actual end purchaser and user of the transformer, just has to have it. The problem is, by the time the shark’s get done marking up the price, the cost has doubled to over $650,000.00 and the end user knows they can buy a brand new unit for much less than $400,000.00.  They feel taken, so they decide to cripple along until they get a brand new transformer. 

This same scenario can happen with high and low voltage switchgear, circuit breakers, and any number of other type electrical equipment.  So how can you tell if you are talking to an intermediary or directly to the source of the equipment? The best bet is to be talking to someone who knows the equipment. Is an expert on the equipment you want to purchase.  Can give you detailed additional information immediately rather than making you wait two hours for answers to each question. Deal with the experts.

What do you do if your manufacturing company suddenly loses its main 5000 kva, 34.5 kv to 480 volt transformer? You have orders pending. And if you can’t fill them, a key account may go elsewhere. You have employees suddenly out of work.  You need to heat the buildings.  And you are told it will take 10 weeks to get a new replacement transformer. This is one of a manufacturer’s worse nightmares. What to do? This happens more frequently than one may realize. MIDWEST actually recommends a “Disaster Action Plan,” on the shelf, ready to go, in case of such a nightmare.

MIDWEST receives these calls all too frequently. You might be fortunate and MIDWEST have a replacement reconditioned or used 5000 kva transformer that can be shipped immediately. No one has new transformers this size in stock. And many companies will not accept anything but a new replacement power transformer. In that case, the best solution is to rent a temporary transformer that will provide power until a new replacement transformer can be specified and manufactured. A new replacement transformer may take 10 weeks.

Renting transformers, and other electrical equipment, is a common solution to this critical problem. The first big question to ask when such an emergency occurs is, “Do you want power back on permanently as quickly as possible or do you just want power back on as quickly as possible?”  There is a huge difference in the time to perform either of these solutions. And way too often there is the presumption that one just must get power back on permanently. This presumption continues until the customer realizes how long it will actually take. Meanwhile many hours, even days, are wasted by chasing the wrong solution.

So the most critical event is to decide how fast one wants power restored.  MIDWEST has transformers, temporary high voltage cables and low voltage cables, and switches in stock.  But, more important, is the knowledge that temporary power installations can be a life saver for a facility that is suddenly down.