Should conveyor, sortation and automation control panels be included in a warehouse thermography survey?

Yes. In an automated warehouse, the conveyor, sortation and automation control panels carry the motor drives, contactors and distribution that keep goods moving, often for long hours. Imaging them live under normal running load, alongside the main switchgear and distribution boards, gives you located findings you can plan into a maintenance window instead of finding out at a stop.

Why the automation panels belong in the survey

Many electrical thermography surveys in warehouses stop at the main switchgear and the distribution boards. In an automated site, much of the equipment that matters to the operation sits further downstream: motor control centres for conveyor zones, variable speed drive panels, sorter power supplies and the distribution feeding mezzanines and pick modules. These panels are as much a part of the electrical system as the main switchboard, and a fault in one can stop a whole line.

What to include

Main LV switchgear and the busbar or cabling feeding the automation
Motor control centres and conveyor zone control panels
Variable speed drive panels
Sortation and robotics power supplies
Distribution boards on mezzanines and in pick modules
Battery charging areas for forklifts and automated vehicles

Survey at real running load

A connection only shows heat when current flows through it, so the survey should run while the system is moving goods at a normal rate, not during a shutdown or a quiet shift. Conveyor and sorter loads change through the day, so the load is recorded against every finding. Before peak season is a sensible time: the system is running, and anything found can still be put right before the busiest weeks.

What runs warm by design

Automation panels contain equipment that is meant to be warm: drive heatsinks, braking resistors, control transformers, power supplies and anti-condensation heaters. Bright bare metal can also reflect heat from elsewhere. An experienced thermographer reads these for what they are, and reports a finding only where the measurement supports it.

Why the load readings matter

On a tap-off in a landlord’s riser, one of our surveys measured 66.0 °C at the L1 connection with the ambient at 25.0 °C. The phase currents at the time were L1 132 A, L2 103 A and L3 75 A, on a 160 A rating, and the report recommended the contractor look at re-balancing the phase loads. The image showed where the heat was; the load readings gave the contractor somewhere to start. The same applies to conveyor and drive panels, where load varies more than in most buildings.

Doing it without stopping the operation

The survey is non-contact and carried out with everything in service. The site’s authorised person opens one panel at a time under the site’s permit system, and the survey can be planned around shifts and busy periods. Our page on surveying a 24/7 distribution centre covers the access side in more detail.

What Ti does and doesn’t do

Ti Thermal Imaging inspects and reports. Our ITC Level 3 thermographers image the equipment live and reports are produced on site. The site’s electrical or automation contractor investigates and carries out any work.

Frequently asked questions

Do the conveyors need to stop for the survey?

No. The panels are imaged with the system running, which is the condition the survey needs to see.

Should the automation supplier’s panels be surveyed separately?

They can be included in the same survey. Agree access with the supplier or the site’s maintenance team beforehand, especially where panels sit under a service contract.

How often should these panels be surveyed?

Most sites include them in the annual electrical survey. Busy or critical lines may justify a shorter interval, set by the site’s own risk assessment and insurer.