SMRP18 – Electrical Motor Maintenance with Howard Penrose
Motor maintenance is very important because the electric motors are vital parts of every machinery. There is a trend in the organizations that they don’t pay much attention to the motors. This is also because of the lack of communication between mechanical and electrical technicians. Sometimes, they are not trained and other times, their roles are responsibilities are not clearly defined. This creates great confusion in the mind of the cross-sectional departments and motors end up either not being maintained. Another reason behind motors not being properly looked after is that the technicians don’t have the training to do so.
In this episode, we covered:
- What is Electrical Motor Maintenace?
- What considerations are required for motor maintenance?
- Why are motors neglected?
- What is changing with motors?
- And much more!
The lack of knowledge of motor maintenance and motors in general causes technicians to overlook things that cause the machinery to fail ahead of its lifetime. Motors can last longer if they are better designed, properly insulated, and lubricated. There are a lot of factors that contribute to motor design and maintenance. The technicians should have all the knowledge they can get from the motor vendors and manuals so that they would be familiar with the schematics and specifications of different motors. That’s the only way they can make informed decisions when there is a problem with the motor.
Motor maintenance starts with correct and complete installation. Then you have to do the basic groundwork like checking for soft-foot, operating conditions, and then all the values for vibration and lubrication checks that the technicians have to perform. Once you the installation phase is finished, the technicians can focus on its applications. By just doing proper checks for moisture and paying attention during the initial phases help avoid a lot of failures. After that, the lubrication programs kick in. The technicians need to know how much and what kind of lubricant is needed to be applied to the machine.
Ultrasound lubrication is always the best way to do the lubrication in the right way so that there are fewer failures and higher uptime. It also depends on the type of motors are being used in the machinery. Some motors just need normal grease and others need a different kind of grease. The machine operators should be familiar with the kind of motors and the relevant lubricants that would keep them up and running. The mechanical components like bearings are the first to fail. So, the motor repair should be done carefully when the motors are sent into the repair shop.
The testing techniques for defects have improved with the new technology. There are different insulation technologies available in the Market and electrical faults can easily be detected with present systems. Even the coil testing procedures have evolved with time. Motors play a huge role in the smooth operation of the machinery. The motors provide all the power to the machines so that they can keep doing the job that they are supposed to. The organizations can increase the lifetime of their assets and grow production by taking care of the motor issues and it’s worth the effort.
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