At Tekwell Services, we see a lot of different types of cranes. We do a lot of overhead crane inspections and repairs, so we are in a perfect position to give you an overview of them. There are many types of overhead cranes and these have been customized in many different ways, so this blog series is going to define the major types of overhead cranes we encounter during our inspections and repairs. Definition of an Overhead Crane First of all, overhead cranes are also known as bridge cranes and although they are most commonly used in industrial manufacturing such as automobile manufacturing,
We’ve discussed the causes of unbalance that creates the need for dynamic field balancing services in another blog post, but we have not really covered the tangible benefits of equipment that has received this service. The first thing to keep in mind is unbalance in any rotating machinery, but particularly in an electric motor, is the most common cause of failure. This can even happen if repairs have been made, such as parts being replaced that became defective due to imbalance issues. Imbalance issues create excess vibration and if you fail to address the root cause of that vibration with
Rebuilding an electric motor can be a difficult, labor intensive process. The first step to rebuild an electric motor is cleaning it thoroughly. You need to remove all dirt, grease, paint, insulation, varnish and epoxy that encases the motor. The copper wire coil must be clean and exposed. There are several ways to do this. The most common being doing it by hand by scraping, sanding and removing the debris using chemical solvents and strippers. This can damage the parts. Another–less damaging–method, is to use an ultrasonic cleaner. This is less invasive and often does the job quite wel
An automatic capacitor reformer is an essential tool for any industrial electric motor asset management program. It allows a user to determine how much calculated capacitance of an electrolytic capacitor bank has remaining. The reason that this is important is that as an electrolytic capacitor ages, it loses its maximum capacitance and drops way below the original specs. As a result, it is important to know exactly how much capacitance remains in a capacitor to determine if it needs to be replaced to avoid failure when the power is needed or avoid replacing capacitors before it is absolutely n
The proper care and operation of electric motors depend on how well you protect your motor bearings from poor lubrication and excess vibration. Here are a few of the ways you can keep your bearings in tip top shape and prevent unplanned downtime due to bearing failure as a result of these two problems. Maintain Proper Lubrication for Your Bearings Lack of lubrication is the number one cause for bearing damage and failure. This can be caused by a number of different reasons. The first being that you failed to provide adequate lubrication in the first place, used the wrong kind of lubricant
Because bearings are some of the most important components within an electric motor, and a component that is at risk for failure, it is important to protect your bearings from a need for electric motor service. How do you do this? Here are three tips to consider: 1 - Maintain Optimal Loads Obviously if you run your motor bearings beyond the recommended maximum load, you will eventually damage them. Either from the heat, or the lack of proper lubrication, the bearings will break down. But bearings also need to have a minimal load as well in order to make sure that the rolling elements rotate
Last month we reviewed the initial stages of an electric motor rewinding service: Information Gathering Stage In-Depth Inspection Stage Testing and Cleaning Stage This month goes over the critical final three stages of the electric motor rewinding service process. Motor Rewind Stage The damaged windings are removed from the core, the cores are tested for core loss, and then the windings are either refurbished or replaced and then rewound back into the motor using as the original configuration of the winding–or a more efficient winding if one is available for your model of mot
Bearings are one most important components within an electric motor. The bearing’s role is to reduce rotational friction while transferring the load from the shaft to the motor itself. As a result, the bearing needs to be able to operate at a variety of speeds without frictional loss and be relatively maintenance-free. There are several types of bearings used for electric motor service: Ball Bearing Ball bearings are the most common bearings used in the world. These are typically made from steel or a steel alloy. Some motors use ball bearings because of their versatility to handle both rad
Your electric motor has broken down and you have taken it to a motor rewinding shop. What happens to it? How does the motor rewinding service process work? Information Gathering Stage The first step is that an electric motor repair technician gathers information about the motor. This includes an initial inspection. The technician looks for blocked air ducts and missing or damaged external parts. The technician should also pull information from the nameplate(s) on the motor to make sure that all of the critical manufacturer information (original manufacturer, part number, service dates, etc.)
Last month, we provided details about three benefits of using an ultrasonic cleaning unit. Here are four more benefits of using an ultrasonic cleaner for electric motor repair and rebuilding. Saves Time Probably the biggest benefit of using an ultrasonic cleaning unit is the massive amount of time it saves in the cleaning process when compared to spraying or scrubbing. Because an ultrasonic cleaner emits up to 40,000 pulses per second at many different angles, it loosens and removes contaminants far quicker, than other cleaning methods. More Reliable Than Other Cleaning Methods Because ult