Archives for 2022

Save the Date! Wednesday, March 22, 2023 EASA Root Cause Failure Analysis Class

Cost: $300 per person or $275 per person if 2+ attendees from same company.
*Half off the true cost of class from EASA*
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.

Download the flyer.

From Quality Assurance to Troubleshooting… Don’t skip the Baseline!

Equipment and Human Resource limitations such as technicians and analysts, play a role in our everyday lives as maintenance and reliability professionals. We are often in a position where we are forced to choose where to use the limited resources we have and that includes what assets to test and how often. One area of maintenance and reliability that we should jump through hoops to accomplish and never skip is Quality Assurance (QA) testing of new or refurbished motors. Even if you will not be able to test an asset at the desired testing frequency as directed by the motor manufacturer or testing standards, you should never miss the opportunity to collect a QA/Baseline on every motor of elevated criticality. Not only does this give you the confidence that you are getting a good quality and reliable motor, but years later when a question arises about the performance of this motor at your facility you will be equipped with a baseline comparison. Having a baseline comparison makes troubleshooting and root cause analysis much more efficient and effective. So, if push comes to shove, don’t let up on the pressure of using the resources for Quality Assurance and baseline testing.

For an example of this exact situation visit the PdMA YouTube channel and watch our latest YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRe1BkHuCbs

Decatur Industrial Gives Thanks

We closed out November with our annual Giving Thanks event! Celebrating employees with milestone anniversaries. Some retirees came back to celebrate as well!

20 Years

Tom Gadberry

5 Years

Jim Bertin

Eric Buchanan

Brad Karrick

Chris Moore

Cody Ray

Sam Schoen

Brooke Thompson

Joe Wagner

Proactive Motor Inspections Save Customer Downtime and Money

Decatur Industrial was asked to perofrm a motor inspection and motor cleaning during an already scheduled outage for a customer. During the inspection, one of our technicians found an end cover to be rotting away due to leakage.

After removing the end cover it was determined that it was in too bad of shape to re-install when cleaning was completed.

Since the motor was going to be down for few more days, it was covered to keep any foreign materials from entering the motor. The end cover was brought back to our shop where D.I.E had an end cover made to replace it. One finished, it was installed on the same motor.

This total project cost less than $3,000 to the customer. A repair likely would have been close to $100,000 and a new motor would have cost close to $200,000.

Finished project!

Humidity and Insulation Resistance

Humidity, like temperature can affect insulation resistance-to-ground measurements. Depending on the humidity level and ambient temperature, moisture may settle onto the cables, windings, motor frame, etc. This will affect the surface leakage component of the total current flowing to ground from the MCE^® test equipment during Resistance-To-Ground (RTG) and Polarization Index (PI) tests. The higher humidity causes a higher leakage current and therefore a lower insulation resistance value. This is similar to changes in temperature, where higher motor temperatures cause a decrease in insulation resistance.

Can we correct for humidity like we correct for temperature? The short answer is “No”. Too many variables exist from motor to motor and even day to day to be able to correct for humidity. However, historical trending of insulation resistance and humidity could give insight into changes in insulation resistance that do not appear to be consistent with temperature changes. Keep in mind that humidity alone is not the variable but rather temperature and dew point. Based on the humidity, when the surface temperature drops below the dew point moisture in the form of condensation will settle onto these cooler surfaces. It is this condensation that affects the insulation resistance of your motor. Some guidelines exist in the industry that suggest a high limit of 50% – 65% humidity to test insulation systems. This might be good for acceptance testing but when it comes to field testing or troubleshooting these guidelines will not apply. Beyond historical trending of humidity and resistance, space heaters are always recommended, which keep the motor temperature above the dew point and prevent condensation from forming on your insulation system.

To see a variety of case studies associated with motor insulation and other electric motor fault zones visit our website at https://pdma.com/news-and-resources/case-studies/