How to determine if your facility needs an overhaul. Includes a Q&A with experts from Stober Drives.

This is an article about motors - preventive motor maintenance, actually. And something else - mechatronics. In today's high-tech manufacturing and industrial use environments, it is near impossible to talk about equally complex motor maintenance and repair-or-replace protocols without it.

Increasing pressure on many fronts is compelling mine operators to thoroughly examine every phase of their operations. Fluctuating demand that whipsaws mineral prices, government-imposed environmental regulations and rising operating costs related to maintenance downtime all pose serious challenges for the mining sector. Add pressure from customers and stakeholders for more sustainable operations as well as union demands for higher wages, and you have a scenario that requires mine operators to exercise every possible option to achieve more efficient operations.

Rolling-element bearings are high-precision components that need to be stored and handled carefully to perform as designed. Proper storage and handling of a bearing before, during and after installation is important because once debris enters a bearing, it reduces the life.

This three-part series on motor management best practices focuses on the importance of instituting a motor management plan as a necessity in effectively administering the electric motors in a facility. The goal of a motor management plan is to take advantage of opportunities for energy savings and increased productivity using energy efficient, reliable motors such as NEMA Premium efficiency motors, herein referred to as “premium efficiency” motors.

Energy costs and downtime can be greatly reduced by instituting a motor management plan. Part II of this three-part series specifically addresses the establishment of a motor failure policy and the development of purchasing specifications. Part I addressed the general aspects of a motor management plan, including the first steps of creating a motor inventory and guidelines for motor repair and replacement. Part III will examine motor repair specifications as well as preventive and predictive maintenance.

Reducing losses and increasing profits by instituting a motor management plan is what this series of articles is all about. Here in Part I, we discuss how to create a motor inventory and establish repair-or-replace motor guidelines. Subsequent topics in this three-part series will address (Part II) motor failure policies and purchasing specifications, and (Part III) repair specifications and preventive and predictive maintenance, respectively.

A man stands at a proverbial pulpit, dressed like a company executive but speaking like a fire and brimstone southern preacher.

Machine and equipment manufacturers today are feeling more pressure than ever to reduce costs without sacrificing machine performance — a balancing act difficult to achieve. OEMs often overlook a simple solution that can have a positive, long-term impact on profitability for themselves and their customers, i.e. — the elimination of bearing lubricant.

The use of motor current signature analysis (MCSA) for motor fault detection — such as a broken rotor bar — is now well established. However, detection of mechanical faults related to the driven system remains a more challenging task. Recently there has been a growing interest for detection of gear faults by MCSA. Advantages and drawbacks of these MCSA-type techniques are presented and discussed on a few industrial cases.