FEATURE u Machine Building


Four simple steps to preventing costly motor failure


Running preventive maintenance routines and arming maintenance engineers and technicians with the right tools and knowledge and can help avoid motor failures and reduce overall downtime costs, says Fluke.


M


otor control systems used in critical manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly complex, which makes it


more crucial than ever to keep them at peak performance. Equipment failure is expensive, whether due to the cost of replacement parts or lost production.


Arming maintenance engineers and technicians with the right knowledge to prioritise workloads and run efficient and effective preventive maintenance programs can help avoid motor failures and reduce overall downtime costs. It is important to consider mechanical and electrical issues when troubleshooting motor failure. Fluke shares four steps to preventing failures in motor drives and rotating components:


1. CAPTURE INITIAL ASSET CONDITION DATA AND SPECIFICATIONS AT INSTALLATION The first step is to capture critical information on the asset – including operating condition, machine specifications, and performance tolerance ranges – at installation. Proper installation lays the foundation for the asset’s life and can extend that life. Before getting the asset up and running, check for issues such as uneven mounting feet; stresses and forces acting on the rest of the equipment transfer backward into the motor; and power consumption, harmonics and electrical unbalance.


2. ESTABLISH A PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT On each preventive maintenance round a comparison of the new measurements to the motor specifications and tolerances that


were captured at installation can be made to identify any anomalies. Add thermal imaging to routine testing to


capture the heat output of motors and assets. High sensitivity thermal imagers capture minute temperature differences to indicate that a motor is running too hot or too cold helping maintenance professionals to find the root cause.


Mechanical issues will occur over time


however, assets can last longer if a regular preventive maintenance program is followed, and mechanical issues are fixed early.


3. STORE AND RECORD INDIVIDUAL MEASUREMENTS TO ESTABLISH A BASELINE Any change in the trend line of performance of more than 10 to 20 per cent should be investigated to identify the underlying factors. The percent change in the trend line that warrants further investigation should be based on system’s required performance or the asset’s criticality. Since variable frequency drives (VFD) take


one wave shape and convert it to another, establishing a baseline for running motors will allow maintenance technicians to see when the output changes. Using a true-RMS multimeter and a portable oscilloscope with a bandwidth of at least 200 MHz can diagnose problems related to VFDs.


Some of these oscilloscopes even offer guided test setups and automated drive measurements to simplify complex motor- drive troubleshooting and provide reliable, repeatable results.


4. RUN A TREND ANALYSIS Once a baseline has been established, it’s important to continue tracking and recording measurements regularly. Storing data and creating a trend analysis can help to diagnose many power-quality-based problems such as transient voltage; voltage and current imbalance; and harmonic distortion. These issues should be validated with


power quality analysers that are capable of capturing the transients or high frequent harmonics. Based on the results, external intervention may be required to repair the problem or even install additional electric equipment like active harmonics filters Markus Bakker, Field Application Engineer


at Fluke Corporation, says: “Equipping your maintenance engineers and technicians with the proper tools, knowledge, and data will enable them to identify signs of motor problems before they become serious. “Following the four steps described above will help them to catch issues before a motor fails, which will help avoid the cost of asset replacement and downtime.”


Fluke 30 December/January 2023 Irish Manufacturing www.fluke.com www.irish-manufacturing.com Portable oscilloscopes operating on a lower


frequency range and thus less expensive can validate wave shapes and help technicians to decide how to repair a VFD. As with many other asset repairs, it’s more cost effective to catch and repair issues in the early stage than to run to failure and need to replace the whole asset or system.


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