An electric motor failure is a common problem that may occur in any type of electric appliance. Well, motor failures can be quite costly.
It could be dangerous for both people and machines. If you fail to maintain an electric motor, it may eventually break down. When this happens, your motor may burn out or lose its efficiency. Moreover, the electric motor can fail for many reasons.
In this article, we will see the how’s and whys of failure of the electric motor and ways to prevent such failure.
Electric Motor Failure Symptoms
The most prevalent reasons of electric motor failure are well-known. For instance, old stuff breaks down or old motors just stop working. As a result, they do what any logical person would do — they buy new ones.
But what do you do if you’re in a rush and don’t have time to wait for the new one to arrive? So you go to a junkyard and get the cheapest motor available. But then, after a month of using the new motor, it stops working too.
Why do you think it stopped working? It probably has a fault. A fault is an electrical problem. And faults don’t just happen randomly. They are caused by problems with the design, construction, installation, or operation of the circuit.
Thus, there are a number of symptoms associated with electric motor failure. The most common are, loss of oil pressure, loss of electrical power, high water temperature, no water flow, low water flow, and high coolant temperature.
If you observe any of these indications, first check your system. Use the specified fluids and follow the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule.
How to Deal with Electric Motor Failure Symptoms?
First, check whether the electrical system has been short-circuited or overloaded and whether the main power supply is connected to the electrical system through an overload switch or fuse box.
Then, check whether the alternator belt has been removed. If so, check whether the battery is disconnected from the alternator and if so, try to reconnect it.
Moreover, check whether the battery terminals are corroded or dirty and whether the battery is completely charged. If any of these problems persist, the alternator must be replaced.
Industrial Electric Motors
The word “industrial” doesn’t mean it is made for the home. Industrial motors are made for industries. They can be found in factories, power plants, elevators, airplanes, trains, ships, sawmills, and more.
When an electric motor spins the rotor and creates a magnetic field, it generates electricity. The field pulls electrons from the wire in the stator and creates electricity.
Moreover, an electric motor consists of a rotor, winding coils, and a stator.
- A stator is made of copper or iron wire. When the electricity enters the stator it becomes magnetized. As the magnetism travels through the stator it causes the rotor to spin.
- A windings coil can be either wound as a single-phase winding or a multiphase winding. A separate winding, on the other hand, can have one or more phases. A multiphase windings coil, on the other hand, is usually coiled on the rotor and is composed of several separate windings.
- Coils of wire are wrapped around a core to form the rotor. Whereas, the stator contains windings of wire that connect to terminals on the outside of the motor housing.
Key Takeaway
Electrical motors can fail in various ways. The most common symptom of electrical motor failure is a bad connection between the motor and its power source.
A faulty wire or pin that creates a short is typically to blame. You can quickly determine if this is the problem by using a multimeter to check the voltage across the motor’s terminals while it’s running. If there’s no voltage, it’s probably a bad connection.