Archives for 2017

Decatur Industrial Field Service Team and Repair Technicians Save Alloy Steel Manufacturer Close to $100,000

Connecting the 750HP motor side of the generator

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Decatur Industrial Electric recently received an emergency field service request from a steel industry customer to troubleshoot the controls and inspect a 750HP, 900 RPM M-G set that would not start.

During inspection we found that the generator portion of the M-G set had serious issues with the interpole insulation. Between the core iron and the coils, the core insulation had completely disintegrated and turned to powder. Additionally, the line leads on the motor portion of the unit were oil soaked and swollen. It was determined that the unit needed to be removed and repaired at Decatur Industrial because it was impossible to properly test the unit in its current condition.

Upon arrival at our shop, we completely reconditioned the M-G set, which included removal of all the interpole coils, reinsulation, and a VPI treatment. We also rewired the DC internal connection and releaded the AC motor stator. Finally, we were able to properly troubleshoot the control problem and repair the faulty contacts.

Although we were unable to initially troubleshoot the controls due to the deteriorating insulation on the generator side of the unit, we saved the customer the cost of a complete M-G set rebuild which can cost upwards of $200,000. They paid less than half of that amount for our repair.

Save the Date: March 15, 2018, EASA Workshop

Class: Root Cause: Winding & Rotor Failures / Root Cause: Bearing & Shaft Failures
Download the Flyer

Cost: $300 per person or $275 per person if 2+ attendees from same company
Time: 8 AM to 5 PM CST (lunch will be provided)
Where: Decatur Industrial Electric / 1650 E. Garfield Ave. / Decatur, IL 62526

One of the most important factors to consider when repairing motors is to understand why they failed. This seminar will focus on common as well as unusual types of failures broken down by components.This class is intended for anyone interested in understanding motor failures & addressing the root cause of failure rather than the symptom.

RSVP Options:

Tell your D.I.E. Account Manager to “Sign me up!”
call 217-428-6621 and ask for Kelli

Taught by: Jim Bryan, EASA Instructor
Jim Bryan is a technical support specialist with the Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA). Before joining EASA, Bryan worked for more than 20 years at Emerson Motor Company (Nidec Corporation) in St. Louis

Meet Brian Buchanan, Winding Leadman

“Even with certain rules and constraints of each job, I can still find ways to take artistic license and really put my mark on a job.” – Brian

Brian has been with D.I.E. since June of 2014. Another aspect of his job he enjoys is mentoring newer employees. When he isn’t at work, Brian spends much of his free time with his four grand-kids.

Fun Fact: Brian and his wife have quite the collection of animals! The “Buchanan Zoo” has 20 zebra and society finches, three dogs, two cats, a guinea pig and hamster.

Justification or Nullification

Yes, another tip on justification. At every reliability conference you will hear at least one story where a reliability program is struggling to justify their existence. In one presentation it’s world class performance backed by management and everyone is motivated and every maintenance dollar is linked to a return. Cross the hallway to another presentation and hear about a struggling facility with a “what have you done for me lately” management support, reliability technology used for troubleshooting only, and a poor taste in the mouth of the technician tasked to keep the equipment reliable.

Justification of finds and downtime prevention is very important when you are part of a reliability effort with an existing management team that has been around for a few years. The importance of justification increases to critical when a management change is under way. Don’t wait. Create a basic template for case studies that can be easily documented and shared with existing and new management to prevent the nullification of the reliability effort. Find ways to get management involved in looking at the KPI’s collected such as integrating reliability data into asset management software for dashboard review or ensuring all the technology data acquired can communicate with the latest IOT data analytics package that new management will likely be interested in. New management will be looking for cost cutting opportunities. Case studies to justify a program don’t come every day and take time to collect. Gather accurate information and document finds when the reliability support is good, so you don’t have to jump through hoops to try to save your program when the support is not.

For a look at a variety of case study examples visit our website at http://www.pdma.com/PdMA-case-study.php.

Manufacturer Sees Small Motor Failures Add Up to Large Expenses

See pictures at the bottom of page!

It was becoming routine – every few months a 5HP motor running an important application would need replaced due to unplanned motor failure! A small motor was causing downtime, maintenance expenses, and frustration with the team.

Instead of just selling a replacement, the Decatur Industrial team of experts investigated the situation to understand WHY the motors were failing at a rapid rate and see if there was a better motor solution for the application.

Upon review, it was discovered that the area where the motor sits is frequently washed down since the material being processed in the location is highly corrosive. Therefore, we recommended a Siemens IEEE 841 Severe Duty 100 motor with a copper rotor as opposed to the Brand X they had been using. This would also allow for long-term energy cost savings and better reliability.
The Siemens motor was 26% less expensive than their past motors and it had two bearing isolator seals to help keep water and contamination out. That results in a savings of $5,000 in direct expenses plus the savings in downtime and emergency maintenance. Also, for every extra year past the two years the new motor lasts provides an additional savings of $3,500.

Below are pictures of the endbells (bearing housings) on their old motor, with contaminates still in them.