How to perform in-house infrared trending of Electric Motors

1. How to perform in-house infrared trending of Electric Motors Example Report

2. Procedure for trending temperatures on Electric Motors • Make sure the motor is at operating temperature (steady-state). • The first time the survey is performed, take a photograph of the motor. Take a thermograph (infrared picture) also, if you have an infrared (IR) camera. But you do not need an IR camera for this. If you have one - use it, but a $100 spot radiometer will do just fine. • Take a can of barbeque grill paint (E=~.95), SAFELY clean and/or paint the points where you plan on taking the temperatures. • Enter the date. • Enter the high temperature (HT). Get the high temperature from the inboard bearing. • Enter the ambient temperature (AT). Get the ambient temperature from the motor foot or a painted spot on the floor near the motor. • The Temperature Rise (Delta-T) will automatically show in the spreadsheet and on the graph. • Put this page in a notebook (or the spreadsheet below) and take the notebook to enter the numbers each month/week/day. • If the trend is higher temperatures every time you check the motor: • Increase the frequency (say from monthly to weekly) and see if the Delta-T continues to rise and watch it closer. • Check other connected components, i.e., outboard bearing, winding, coupling. • Add other testing, i.e. airborne ultrasonic analysis, vibration analysis, oil and wear particle analysis, eddy current analysis. • General Notes: • Pick a temperature scale at the beginning of the trending. (Either °C - Celsius or °F - Fahrenheit and always use the same scale. • Keep the surface clean with an air hose, so dust does not build up on the inboard bearing and insulate it. • After blowing it off, give the bearing a few minutes to come back to steady state temperature. • This trending is predicated on the fact that the Delta-T (HT - AT = Delta-T) will not change if the motor stays in the same condition. • If the motor's inboard bearing gets hotter over time, something is wrong. Increase frequency and check other components. • The motor's inboard bearing is the pivot point of all other connected components, if something goes wrong anywhere, the bearing heats. • Don’t worry about being off a few degrees here or there. The idea is that you will be able to see a trend. Even if some errors are introduced, so as long as you use the same repeatable method, you will see the trend.

3. 125 #1 87 #2 Spray Pump 38

5. Note: SAFELY clean dust/dirt from the target area before recording high temp. High Temp.

6. Note: Don’t put the ambient temp mark where it will be affected by the motor temperatures. 122 #1 79 #2 Spray Pump 43

7. 178 #1 78 #2 #2 100

8. 107 #1 76 #1 #1 31

9. 147 #2 75 #6 CHWP Pump 72

10. 158 # #2 76 # #6 RAF#4A # 82

11. 158 # #2 79 # #6 RAF#4D # 79

12. 176 # # # #2 78 # # # #6 Spray Pump #4 # # # 98

13. 127 #2 75 #5 RAF#3E # 52

14. 147 #2 76 #5 #3C 71

15. 137 #2 75 #5 RAF#3C # 62

16. 139 #2 76 #5 Spray Pump #3 # 63

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