6 important tasks for maintaining electric motors

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6 important tasks for maintaining electric motor operation

Motors are crucial industrial equipment, whether as prime movers, conveyor drives or components of fans and blowers. Today we discuss important aspects of motor operation that people often overlook and that can lead to damage.   Let us look at them.

Motor failures are often caused by more than age or accumulated operating hours. Possible causes include:
1. Heat
2. Humidity
3. Contamination
4. Inappropriate bearing lubrication
5. Abnormal mechanical loads
6. Abnormal electrical supply

A motor can have a very long service life if the stress ( Stresses) from these factors is minimised. The source states that a proportion of motor failures as high as 51% arises from abnormal bearing operation.

Routine maintenance ( Regular Maintenance) is therefore very important. The following are 6 important tasks that can help a motor perform its function reliably for a long time:
1. Lubrication ( Lubrication)
2. Bearing inspection ( Bearing Inspection)
3. Drive belt inspection ( Driven Belt Inspection)
4. Rotor inspection ( Rotor Inspection)
5. Stator inspection ( Stator Inspection)                     
6. Motor installation inspection ( Motor Mounts Inspection)

These 6 tasks are only part of an overall preventive maintenance programme. It can also include periodic cleaning, vibration analysis, contact resistance testing, inspection of moving parts, overload relay checks and other activities.

Thorough and complete implementation of a preventive maintenance programme is key to extending motor life and reducing the likelihood of production stopping because a motor has failed.