Businesses need to keep capital costs low. They should make the most of their investment in assets and equipment.

This means deploying a comprehensive preventative maintenance (PM) program. A planned maintenance program won’t just protect the longevity and efficiency of your equipment.

A comprehensive PM program can also save 15 – 20% on energy. It will allow your equipment to operate efficiently.

Squirrel cage rotors should be included when you create a PM program.

PM Programs Help Reduce Downtime

A PM program depends on your HVAC equipment and your facilities needs. But a quality PM program is essential for minimizing downtime.

You won’t just save on repairs, energy, and capital expenses. You’ll also minimize disruptions to key equipment.

Here are tips on how to PM your squirrel cage rotors:

Quarterly Inspection

Squirrel cage rotors should have a quarterly inspection. This is the core of the PM tasks.

The inspection should include the following:

• Operating Temperature: Check motor’s operating temperature. High temperatures may indicate an issue with insulation or mechanical problems.
• Vibration Analysis: Excessive vibration may indicate an electrical or a mechanical problem.
• Visual Inspection: Rotors should be inspected for grease and dirt buildup.
• Ammeter Electrical Testing: Make sure phase currents are balanced.

Quarterly PM Tasks

Ideally, you may find no issues with the above testing and inspections. But if any issues are beyond the scope of your site based staff you may need to take the equipment offline for repairs.

It is better to perform repairs during an inspection than for them to lead to equipment failure. In the event of normal conditions cleaning the grease and dirt buildup is a must.

For rotors larger than 300 horsepower you may need specialized testing and PM tasks.

Not All Squirrel Cage Rotors are Created the Same

In all cases, you should defer to your manufacturer’s recommendations when it comes to creating a PM program. Further, if you have a CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) in place you can begin to move from preventative to predictive maintenance.

This means you will be able to defer maintenance around historical repairs and base maintenance on equipment use and scheduling needs. You can also integrate maintenance with capital planning and warranty information.

Be sure to use manufacturer recommendations and best practices when planning your quarterly, semi-annual, and annual maintenance.

The Best in Repairs

You may have high-level PM tasks that exceed the capabilities of your site staff. You may also have stubborn and persistent issues with your squirrel cage rotors that won’t be cured with PM tasks.

Whatever your repair needs, Electrical Apparatus can help. Our vision is to be the premier repair shop and manufacturer of AC Electric Rotors and Motor Laminations for all electric motor equipment in North America.

Experience and Quality Service

We have experience with rotors with fractional horsepower up to 10,000 horsepower.

We provide technologically advanced rotor repair methods available in professional repair shops today. From new laser cut iron laminations of any size to new air vent spacer laminations – we can handle your electric rotor repair.

Contact us now for a quote and let Electrical Apparatus handle your repair needs.