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. All voltage classes, vertical and horizontal, 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. Underground gear operators handled 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.
GOAB switches run from distribution voltages up into subtransmission, and we refurbish across the full range. Vertical break, horizontal break, 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 69 kV subtransmission switch are the same job to us: teardown, upgrade, test, return.
The bulk of the installed GOAB fleet. 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.
One of the most widely deployed GOAB switches in Florida substations. Full switch refurbishment or the standalone upgraded bearing rebuild.
Underground gear operator replacement and above-grade operator service, so the switch and the thing that drives it are handled together.
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 in a cast aluminum housing. 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 the metals are the problem.
That is why our rebuild changes the materials rather than just cleaning and repacking. A 316 stainless shaft and sealed stainless bearings remove the galvanic couple. Viton O-rings keep water out of the joint. The switch comes back operating the way it did new, and it stays that way longer than the original design did.
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 GOAB switches across every distribution and subtransmission voltage class, from 15 kV through 69 kV, in both vertical and horizontal mounting. 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 bearing against a steel shaft, and in Florida humidity the dissimilar metals corrode and the assembly binds until the switch will not operate. Our rebuild breaks that couple: a 316 stainless steel shaft, a machined brass lock nut, Viton O-ring seals, and sealed stainless bearings, with an optional zerk fitting for 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 underground gear operator replacement 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 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.
Underground gear operator replacement for switches whose operator has failed below grade.
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.