GOAB Switch Refurbishment
Full refurbishment of group operated air break switches. Bearing rebuild with material upgrades, contact reconditioning, operating mechanism and gear operator service, hardware, alignment, function test, and documentation. Every voltage class. The switches we see most run 38 kV, 69 kV, 115 kV, and 230 kV, and the Southern States EV2s that come through the shop are typically in this class. We refurbish the lower distribution classes too, 15 kV and 27 kV. Vertical and horizontal mount, in the configurations the fleet runs: single-throw and double-throw, one-way, two-way, and three-way, in-line, delta, and unitized designs, on porcelain or polymer post insulators. Southern States EV2 and other GOAB families. We do not sell new switches. We rebuild the one you have, no matter how far gone it is when it reaches us.
Refurbish the switch you have, not a new one.
A GOAB switch that will not open, binds through its travel, or shows arcing damage is almost always a rebuild candidate. The wear items are the operating shaft bearings, the switch contacts, and the operating mechanism, and every one of them can be reconditioned or replaced. Replacing a whole switch is rarely the right call, and it means an outage window, new steel, and a longer lead time than a rebuild.
We do not sell new switches. That is deliberate. Our work is the aftermarket: we take the switch out of your substation, or receive it shipped in, and return it operating to specification.
Condition on arrival does not disqualify a switch. Seized bearings, corroded shafts, burned contacts, bent linkage, missing hardware, obsolete parts the OEM no longer stocks, we refurbish and repair GOAB switches regardless of how damaged they are when we receive them.
We evaluate each switch on arrival and tell you what we find before we proceed. If a bearing rebuild is all it needs, that is what we quote. If the contacts and the operator need work too, we show you why.
Full refurbishment scope.
Full disassembly of the switch, bearings, contacts, and operating mechanism. Every component inspected and photographed. Wear and corrosion documented before any parts are replaced.
The failure point on most GOAB switches. We replace the shaft with 316 stainless steel, the lock nut with machined brass, the seals with Viton O-rings, and the bearings with sealed stainless units. Optional zerk fitting for periodic lubrication.
Blades, jaws, and current-carrying contacts inspected for pitting, erosion, and alignment. Reconditioned where serviceable, replaced with in-house machined parts where worn beyond tolerance.
Operating shaft, linkage, and gear operator serviced so the switch opens and closes cleanly under load-break and no-load conditions. Worn or seized gear operators are replaced through our UGOR program.
Corroded hardware replaced, insulators inspected, structure cleaned and repainted. Obsolete or discontinued parts reverse-engineered from a sample, a print, or a model number.
Switch aligned, operated through its full travel, and function tested. Returned with a documentation package covering parts replaced and the upgrades made, ready to install.
All voltage classes, vertical and horizontal.
We refurbish any switch at any voltage class, distribution through transmission. Vertical break, horizontal break, pantograph, single and three phase, Southern States EV2 and other group operated air break families. Because we machine the replacement parts ourselves, a 15 kV distribution switch and a 500 kV transmission switch are the same job to us: teardown, upgrade, test, return.
Bearing seizure and contact wear are the common reasons these come into the shop.
Larger structures and longer operating shafts, same failure modes. Bearing and linkage rebuild with the same material upgrades.
Air break and pantograph switches at transmission voltage. We rebuilt the jaw and contacts on a lightning-damaged Duke Energy 500 kV pantograph switch.
One of the most widely deployed GOAB switches in Florida substations. Full switch refurbishment or the standalone upgraded bearing rebuild.
Gear operator replacement with our patented UGOR, so the switch and the thing that drives it are handled together.
15 kV GOAB switch refurbishment.
We refurbish 15 kV class GOAB switches routinely, though most of what comes through the shop is 38 kV and higher. At any class two failures account for nearly all of it: the operating shaft bearing seizes, or the contacts wear past tolerance and begin running hot. The scope does not change with the nameplate.
A 15 kV GOAB switch moves through the shop the same way every other switch does: full teardown and inspection, bearing rebuild with a 316 stainless shaft, a machined brass lock nut, Viton O-ring seals, and sealed stainless bearings, contacts reconditioned or replaced, then alignment, function test, and documentation. We machine the replacement parts in Palm Harbor, including the obsolete ones, so a part the OEM no longer stocks does not stop the job.
Bearing seizure is a corrosion problem, not a lubrication problem.
The GOAB switch that will not operate is usually not dry, it is corroded. The original bearing runs a mild steel shaft secured by an aluminum lock nut. Those are dissimilar metals, and in Florida humidity they form a galvanic couple: the corrosion product expands in the joint, and the assembly binds until the operator cannot turn the shaft. Grease does not fix it, because grease is not a seal and the joint keeps getting wet.
That is why our rebuild changes the materials and seals the joint. Galvanic corrosion needs three things: two dissimilar metals, an electrical path between them, and a continuous electrolyte bridging both. The metals are unavoidable in a threaded assembly. The electrolyte is not. Viton O-rings above and below the bearing housing keep water out of the thread crevice, and sealed stainless bearings keep it out of the rolling elements. A machined brass lock nut against a 316 stainless shaft still forms a couple, but brass corrodes slowly and its corrosion product does not expand and lock the threads the way aluminum hydroxide does. Dry joint, slow metal, no jamming product. That is why the rebuilt assembly comes apart with a wrench in twenty years and the original does not.
Stainless shafts, brass lock nuts, and replacement contacts machined to specification in our Palm Harbor shop. No third-party sourcing delays.
Remove it, rebuild it, reinstall it. Florida and Southeast coverage. One point of accountability from the substation to the finished switch.
Seized, corroded, arced, or missing parts. We refurbish and repair the switch regardless of how it arrives.
GOAB switch guides.
Background on how these switches work, how they fail, and what maintenance keeps them operating.
Operator maintenance & safety · Seized or hard to operate · UGOR replacement
GOAB switch refurbishment questions.
Can a GOAB switch be refurbished, or does it have to be replaced?
Almost every group operated air break switch is refurbishable. The wear items are the operating shaft bearings, the switch contacts, and the operating mechanism, all of which are rebuildable or replaceable. We do not sell new switches, and we do not need to. A switch that has seized, corroded, or arced is a rebuild candidate, not scrap. Send us photos and a model number and we will tell you what it needs.
What voltage classes and switch types do you refurbish?
All of them. We refurbish switches across every voltage class, distribution through transmission, in both vertical and horizontal mounting. We have rebuilt everything from 15 kV distribution switches to a lightning-damaged 500 kV pantograph switch. That includes the Southern States EV2 and other group operated air break families. If it is a GOAB switch, we rebuild it.
Why do GOAB switch bearings seize?
The common failure is galvanic corrosion. The original design runs an aluminum lock nut against a mild steel shaft, and in Florida humidity the dissimilar metals corrode and the assembly binds until the switch will not operate. Our rebuild attacks the water rather than the metals: Viton O-ring seals and sealed stainless bearings keep the electrolyte out of the joint, and a machined brass lock nut on a 316 stainless shaft replaces the aluminum with a metal whose corrosion product does not expand and lock the threads. An optional zerk fitting allows periodic lubrication.
Do you work on switches that are damaged beyond what the OEM will support?
Yes. We refurbish and repair any GOAB switch regardless of how damaged it is when we receive it. Where a part is obsolete or no longer available, we reverse-engineer it from a sample, a drawing, or a model number and machine it to specification in our Palm Harbor shop. OEM support ending does not end support for your switch.
Can you do the work in the field, or is it shop-only?
Both. Field crews across Florida and the Southeast can service or replace the switch and its gear operator on site, including worn or seized gear operators replaced through our UGOR program. For a full rebuild, the switch is refurbished in the shop and returned tested and documented, or removed and reinstalled by our crew as one scope.
Related services.
The full EV2 picture: bearing rebuild, whole-switch refurbishment, linkage arm, parts, and the case studies behind them.
The standalone upgraded bearing rebuild: 316 stainless shaft, brass lock nut, Viton seals, sealed stainless bearings.
Full shop refurbishment of the Southern States EV2, returned ready to install.
UGOR gear operator replacement for switches whose operator has worn out or seized.
On-site switch service, removal, and reinstallation across Florida and the Southeast.
Part no longer available? We reverse-engineer from a sample, a print, or a model number and machine to spec.
We respond within one business day with a clear scope and timeline. Photos of the bearing, the contacts, and the operator help us scope the job accurately. No condition is too far gone to quote.