Inspection is a critical portion of the motor repair job.
Inspection defines the entire scope of work. You want answers to critical questions before you send a motor out for repair.
What do you need to know?
How thoroughly and accurately will the motor be inspected?
What determines that the motor repair was successful and that the motor is operating at satisfactory levels?
Procedures built on industry standards, such as IEEE, protect your investment in motor repairs. But the fact is that very few motor repair shops have documented inspection and acceptance testing procedures. According to SKF, the best shops are procedure driven.
Accurate inspection and acceptance testing will lower your motor repair costs
A thorough and accurate inspection helps you maximize your investment in the motor repair, and will help ensure you get a consistent job.
When done correctly, you will see immediate benefits:
Reveal causes of failure and stress, which could impact your repair decision.
Identify all issues to be repaired so that you have greater certainty in your quote.
Document acceptance testing so that you shop is held accountable on performance aspects of the repair.
What about shops that offer “free” inspections of electric motors and quotes for repairs?
It is often surprising to our customers that the inspection alone accounts for 40% of the price of a typical mechanical recondition. It should make you wonder as to what exactly is included in a “free” inspection.
EECO’s motor inspection and acceptance process:
Motors are visually inspected and three photos are captured of the exterior
A failure assessment is conducted and suggested causes, including photos, are recorded.
Electrical testing begins after a physical assessment of condition for suitability to test run.
Windings are tested to ensure that there are no grounds, short circuits, open circuits, incorrect connections or high resistance connections.
An average of 32 precision measurements, many of which are at tolerances less than the width of a human hair.
Guidelines for you to get the most from inspection and acceptance testing:
Ask your shop about their pre-quote inspection requirements to see if they are traceable to industry standards.
Make sure that electrical testing is defined.
Insist that vibration be recorded during a final run test, and that limits are defined.
Request a failure analysis with every repair.
Make sure that all inspection, test results, and failure analysis are documented in your report, including data from both before and after the repair.
