Preventative maintenance
Scheduled electrical inspections and servicing built around the machine and the site's maintenance intervals. Checking terminations, looms, glands, earthing and protection before they become a breakdown.
Capability
Underground Drill Electrical Maintenance & Support WA
Specialist electrical maintenance, fault finding and breakdown support for underground drill rigs, provided from Perth to mining operations across Western Australia.
Underground drill rigs carry a significant amount of electrical and control equipment, and they work in one of the harshest environments on a mine site. Water, dust, vibration and physical damage all take their toll, and when the electrical side of a rig goes down, development or production goes with it.
E&B Industrial Electrical provides specialist underground drill electrical maintenance and support as a mining electrical contractor based in Perth. The work covers planned maintenance, electrical fault finding, breakdown attendance, component replacement and support during shutdowns and projects.
This page sets out what that work involves in practice, and when it is worth bringing in an underground drill electrician who works on this equipment specifically rather than treating it as general site electrical work.
Scope of work
What underground drill electrical work covers
The electrical scope on a drill rig runs from the incoming supply through to the control system and the sensors on the booms. Faults can sit anywhere along that path.
Electrical fault finding & diagnostics
Systematic underground electrical fault finding on power and control circuits — tracing the fault back to a cause rather than replacing parts until the symptom disappears.
Breakdown support
Attendance when a rig is down with an electrical fault, working through the problem and getting the machine back into service safely.
Component replacement
Replacement of damaged or failed electrical components — contactors, breakers, relays, control modules, isolators, lighting and associated equipment.
Control system troubleshooting
Working through control and interlock issues, tracing signals between control modules, operator controls and the functions they drive.
Cable, sensor & equipment faults
Damaged trailing cables and looms, failed or intermittent sensors and limit switches, water ingress, chafed conductors and failed connectors.
When to bring someone in
When specialist electrical support may be required
Most sites handle routine electrical work internally. Specialist support usually becomes worthwhile in a handful of specific situations.
A fault that keeps coming back. A recurring fault normally means the actual cause has not been found — the symptom has been treated instead. Recurring electrical faults on the same machine or the same circuit are worth stopping and diagnosing properly, because the repeat downtime usually costs more than the diagnosis.
Intermittent faults. These are the hardest to deal with, because the machine often tests fine once it is back in the workshop. Intermittent electrical issues are commonly vibration, water ingress, a marginal connection or a cable that only fails under movement or load — and they need to be chased methodically rather than guessed at.
Physical damage to electrical equipment. Underground machines get knocked, scraped and caught up. Damaged looms, crushed conduit, torn glands and damaged junction boxes all need assessing and repairing properly rather than patching, because the consequences of a poor repair underground are serious.
Planned maintenance capacity. When the maintenance schedule is heavier than the on-site crew can absorb, additional electrical capability for a defined period keeps the schedule on track without permanently adding headcount.
Breakdowns. When a machine is down, production is affected and the priority is a safe, correct repair as quickly as it can be done.
Planned work
Planned maintenance, shutdowns and projects
Not all of this work is unplanned. A good share of underground drill electrical maintenance is scheduled, and it is far more cost-effective done that way.
Planned maintenance support can be arranged around an existing schedule — working to the site's intervals and procedures rather than imposing a separate system. Where a machine is coming in for a service or rebuild, the electrical scope can be inspected, repaired and tested while it is accessible.
Shutdowns are a fixed window with a defined scope. Additional electrical capability during a shutdown means drill electrical work can be completed inside that window rather than carried over into production.
Project work covers the larger one-off scopes — modifications, upgrades and electrical changes to equipment, planned and completed to an agreed scope.
Switchboard busbar chamber
Where we work
Perth-based support for WA mining operations
E&B is based in Perth and supports mining and industrial operations across Western Australia. The workshop capability in Perth and the site work go together: some electrical problems are better solved on a bench with the equipment in front of you, and some can only be solved on the machine, underground, where the fault actually occurs.
Alongside underground mining electrical services, E&B works on MCCs, switchboards and general mining electrical maintenance. That breadth matters on drill work more than it might appear — a drill fault is often a motor control, protection or supply issue rather than a problem with the machine itself.
You can see the full range on the mining and industrial electrical services page, or read about the experience behind the business.
Get in touch
Need underground drill electrical support?
Tell us about the equipment, the fault or the work coming up, and we'll tell you honestly whether it's something E&B is set up to help with.
General enquiries: info@eandbelectrical.com.au
Scopes and RFQs: quotes@eandbelectrical.com.au