Access Floor Maintenance: Precautions and Importance of Raised Floor System Regular Inspection

We must know that correct installation of a raised access floor may be of no use if once it is put into service the manufacturer's recommendations regarding cleaning and maintenance are not respected. Strict compliance with these recommendations will always help to optimize the functional and aesthetic result of our raised access floor throughout its useful life. While the prerequisite for complying with these maintenance guidelines is the necessary periodic inspections of the raised floor system.

Function & Application of Raised Floor System

Raised Floor also called Access Floor, can be found in many technical rooms and systems. Many control rooms, battery rooms, electrical rooms, generator rooms, technical rooms, server rooms, and data centers etc. are equipped with a raised floor system construction. This special form of floor construction has also proven itself in the production, laboratory, telecom base station, and power plant areas. Access floors have also been used in salesrooms, offices, living rooms, conference rooms and hotels for many years. In recent times, glass raised floors with elaborate light structures have also been found in many exhibition rooms and museums.

Virtually invisible, there are often power cables, network cables, heating pipes, water pipes, electrical connections, and also ventilation pipes in the cavity under the floor of the base course. A raised floor also plays an important role in the air conditioning of the server room and data center infrastructures, as the important cooling air is guided through the hollow floor. On the other hand, a hollow floor in the cleanroom laboratory fulfills the extremely important function of exhaust air guidance.

Raised Access Floor Regular Inspection Is Essential

Every raised floor construction must be inspected regularly. In many cases, an inspection of the raised floor is only carried out very rarely, as this is associated with effort. However, in most cases it is worthwhile to take a close look through the inspection cover of the raised floor. so one finds large amounts of dirt and dust there. If the raised floor has a climate function, you will usually find large amounts of dirt and grime there. House dust can also form large bugs along the cable and supply routes in the raised floor and massively impair the ventilation / air conditioning function of the raised floor.

For the correct conservation of these, it is advisable to carry out periodic maintenance and adjustment inspections of the raised floor, with the frequency recommended by the installer depending on the use to which it is intended. Below are the precautions you should pay attention when you are planning to periodic inspection for your access floor system:

Performance of Raised Floor Panels

A raised floor system consists of a large number of individual raised floor panels that can be picked up independently of one another. This creates joints and edges with great potential for attack by cleaning water and mechanical damage. In daily practice, this floor is exposed to constant loads and often inappropriate conditions. They inevitably lead to wear and tear that can be avoided. For example, a server that has been performing flawlessly for years can suddenly fail due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). Unplanned IT downtime is known to cause costs and can even affect a company's good reputation.

Regular checks and maintenance are therefore necessary. For heavily used raised floor systems, we recommend performing maintenance at regular intervals, but at least once a year. This achieves a considerably longer service life for the raised floor system, which ultimately contributes to an enormous reduction in construction maintenance costs.

Condensation in The Raised Floor

Important environmental factors such as temperature or relative humidity (RH) prevail in every room. A raised floor is also subject to these influences. If the environmental parameters of temperature and humidity are not in the optimal range, there is a risk of dew point. In the worst case, larger amounts of water can collect unnoticed. If these puddles in the access floor system are not detected and reported early, massive trouble can arise. If condensate, moisture or water come into contact with live cables, there is a risk of a meltdown in the form of an electrical short circuit.

Penetrating Water in The Access Floor

If the air conditioning installed in the server room or data center (RZ) loses condensation or the valve of the water-cooled 19 inch server cabinet is leaking, water can penetrate the cavity of the system floor unnoticed. Further dangers arise from heating pipes and / or water pipes installed in the raised floor. Even a hairline crack in a copper pipe can release considerable amounts of water. Valuable time can pass before the penetrating water is discovered in the system floor. The consequences of water damage in company-critical production and IT infrastructures can be devastating.

Cleanliness of The Bottom Space & Cable Tray

Cooling and climate (temperature, airflow, humidity) have to be right, but so is cleanliness. Dust contamination is usually the cause of short circuits, malfunctions, and failures in the data center. As a rule, technical equipment and electronic systems in the computer center/data center are supplied with cooling air via the raised floor in order to provide an optimal working temperature for the devices. 

In the course of time, ambient dust/particles settle in the raised floor system or on the bare floor and, depending on the nature of the bare floor surface, built-in cable and power lines and loosely laid cables/cable bundles, the necessary supply of cooling air and the removal of the heated air is hindered.