November 11, 2021
It’s the middle of the night and a key motor in your facility broke down. Every hour of delay is costing thousands of dollars. You pull a drop-in spare from on-site storage and it doesn’t work. It was ice cold when you pulled it out, the bearings are making odd noises, and it looks like …
June 17, 2021
I2021-06-Asset management system for plant floor-06-17-2021t has always amazed me how unprepared some businesses are in the event of a breakdown of critical equipment. These unplanned plant shutdowns can have a tremendous financial impact costing companies hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour. Almost every time that we help one of our clients through one …
May 12, 2021
During failure investigations we often see misalignment on vertical motors as the failure mode and when we ask for alignment readings at time of installation, we often hear that the “motor and the base have a register fit and alignment isn’t required”. This is far from the truth. Let’s look at why alignment should at …
May 19, 2020
The air gap refers to an actual physical gap in an electric motor that separates the moving rotor and the stator core. This gap is a necessary part of motor design and the size of the air gap is one of the keys to motor performance and reliabilit. The Case for a Correct Air Gap …
July 2, 2019
An informative video about AC Synchronous Motors Below is a 5 minute video from an hour long presentation given by Todd Hatfield, Senior Electrical Engineer at HECO – All Systems Go, during the 2018 Reliability, Process, and Maintenance (RPM) Symposium. This clip covers the basis of synchronous motors and how they differ from induction motors. …
June 5, 2019
It is standard to see the “frame” size on every electric motor nameplate, but do you understand what that frame means in regard to the mounting of the motor? Many have been in the situation where you needed a specific frame only to realize it was made with a special shaft or has a mounting …
May 14, 2019
Are you replacing your failed motor with the best motor for your application and environment? The easy part of replacing your motor is matching the frame size, horsepower, RPM, and voltage, but it may not always be wise to just replace the motor with a motor matching the same enclosure that you have always had. …
May 23, 2018
I am often told “I want that motor varnish dipped too”, but is re-dipping a reconditioned motor really good for the motor? Using proper repair practices motors can be reconditioned and repaired many, many times. Putting varnish over varnish continually is not always in the best interest for that motor in the long term. Continually …
April 18, 2018
Many companies have spare electric motors in their warehouse in the event of a critical motor failure. Many times this can be an intelligent decision, allowing for quick change out in the event of a failure (or pending failure) or during a scheduled outage or shutdown. It is important to have a plan for when …
January 4, 2018
The below video is a 15 minute segment of an hour long presentation given by Todd Hatfield of HECO at the 2017 Reliability, Process, and Maintenance (RPM) Symposium. This presentation discusses common preventable causes of electric motor failures. This section of the presentation discusses bearing related failures as bearings account for about 51% of all …
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