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Not all motor repair facilities are equal, in fact the difference between a motor repair company and a quality motor repair provider could mean a huge difference for the longevity and efficiency of your repaired motor.
Unfortunately, the industry has no legislation to enforce the quality of the repairs that are carried out, so it falls to the person in need of the repair to do their due diligence, and ensure that they are procuring a high level of quality when choosing a repairer.
Repairers vary from independent 1 man operations working from tiny premises, to multinational businesses operating in various places around the globe. So when choosing your repairer, does big mean better? And does being affiliated with a trade body such as the AEMT guarantee a high standard of repair? The answer is no to both of those questions.
When choosing your repairer, you need to ensure they have the appropriate equipment to carry out the repair properly and if the repairer has multiple sites. Make sure they have the equipment needed at the branch you are using. You would be amazed at how many companies I have come across over the years who are poorly equipped or even lack basic essential repair equipment.
What to ask your Electric Motor repairer to demonstrate?
Surge Tester:- Without a surge tester the repairer has no real way of performing electrical tests on the stator. A multi-meter and megger test is simply not capable of testing electric motors sufficiently. In our repair shop we use the Electrom Instruments iTIG III Winding analyser.
Pyrolysis Oven:- One of the major processes of rewinding a motor is to remove the old windings, varnish and insulation. It’s not an easy process unless you have one of these Ovens which you must not mistake for a curing oven, they are very different. It’s surprising how many rewind shops don’t have this equipment but without it you cannot guarantee the ongoing efficiency of the motor after the repair.
Dynamic Balancing:- Another large and expensive piece of repair equipment that is essential to a high quality repair. The balancing machine ensures the rotor assembly is finely tuned and balanced for all speeds of rotation. Remember a slight imbalance on a rotor can quickly degrade bearing life and cause damage to other areas of the machine the motor is connected to.
There are lots of other pieces of equipment that we use in the repair process such as sand blasters, wash tanks, curing ovens, rotor removal equipment, bearing heaters, cranes, mechanical measurement devices and countless other tools, but in my opinion the 3 listed above are by far the most important for any rewind shop to effect a quality and reliable repair.
