To recognize errors in the power equipment defect records in real time, we propose an error recognition method based on knowledge graph technology. According to the characteristics of power equipment defect records, a method for constructing a knowledge graph of power equipment defects is presented. Then, a graph search algorithm is employed to recognize different kinds of errors in defect records, based on the knowledge graph of power equipment defects. Finally, an error recognition example in terms of transformer defect records is given, by comparing the precision, recall, F1-score, accuracy, and efficiency of the proposed method with those of machine learning methods, and the factors influencing the error recognition effects of various methods are analyzed. Results show that the proposed method performs better in error recognition of defect records than machine learning methods, and can satisfy real-time requirements.