Jeremie Edwards | Noria Corporation
CONDITION MONITORING, LUBRICANT ANALYSIS AND TROUBLESHOOTING Condition Monitoring, Lubricant Analysis and Troubleshooting
Understanding and Setting Electric Motor Inspection Tasks
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ASCEND™ Factor
Factor:
A5M – Lubricant Analysis Limits
Level: Management and Training(M)
Stage: Condition Monitoring, Lubricant Analysis and Troubleshooting
About: Specific limits should be created for each type of machine. Setting limits allows operators to ensure machines are running normally.
Learn More: noria.com/ascend/
“Failure is central to engineering. Every single calculation that an engineer makes is a failure calculation. Successful engineering is all about understanding how things break or fail.” — Henry Petroski All manufacturing facilities are different, and each has its own needs. Most of these facilities do have some common components such as electric motors, gearboxes, pumps and bearings.
Inspections and condition monitoring for each:
When we think about equipment maintenance, what drives the equipment should be a primary concern. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about a gearbox, a pump or a chain drive; if it is run by an electric motor (as is often the case) and that motor fails, no amount of gearbox care is going to fix the problem. Not all electric motors are equal. Some will be carefully maintained and lubricated, while others will
not. Even motors that are not carefully maintained usually make it onto an inspection schedule. In any case, there are a number of things that we can look for on any electric motor during inspections. Certain aspects should be obvious, like operating temperature, sound, obvious shaking, etc. These are all things that even a layman should be able to spot if they have seen what “normal” operating conditions look like. But it is often the case that all our other duties get in the way of even the clearest signs of problems. As younger folks enter workplaces where apprenticeship programs are not as prevalent, a lot of the
“old knowledge” that we could assume everyone has is being lost. Of course, not all old knowledge still holds true. We need to address which knowledge is fact and what has become fiction as our understanding of lubrication and maintenance has developed. Let’s start with temperatures. Now, I have to admit that I have been as guilty of this as anyone out there, but just because a motor is too hot to touch doesn’t mean that the motor is “running hot.” Don’t get me wrong, I would love it if all electric motors could run at 125° F (52°C) all the time while being in an ambient temperature of 77°F (25°C), but we all know that this just isn’t the case. More
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| January-February 2022 | 29
