A -“T” Leads, B-Local Disconnect, C-Motor Connection Box (above)
Electric motor test instruments are designed specifically for motor testing. However, when in the hands of a properly trained and savvy technician or engineer, they can be utilized for considerably more testing and diagnostics. In this testing tip, we will discuss how to utilize motor test instruments to diagnose problems with the cabling and distribution circuit of the motor.
Barre, VT, January 6, 2023: The Snell Group is excited to present at the 26th annual Maintenance and Reliability Conference hosted by The University of Tennessee Reliability and Maintainability Center. MARCON 2023 will be held March 6-9 in Knoxville, TN at the Knoxville Convention Center. This is an important event for professionals to collaborate one-on-one with presenters, exhibitors, and other attendees in the field.
Solar loading is not just a warm-weather concern for building thermographers. We must deal with its impact year-round, regardless of the season. Additionally, when it comes to the sky conditions, solar loading is not only a problem on sunny days. Even when it is cloudy, solar loading still affects thermographers when inspecting buildings, especially from the exterior. As we learn in Level I, heat transfers from where it is to where it isn’t, so solar loading on the exterior will cause transfer into the structure, and that can lead to some confusing patterns.
When I was growing up, Dad was good about teaching me all the things a young man would benefit from knowing. The usual stuff: baiting a hook to fish, how to change a car tire, that kind of thing. Every once in a while, he would show me something and preface it with “hey, lemme show ya this ol’ army trick”. I was a teenager before I learned that my dad never spent a day in the Army. Apparently, I took things pretty literally as a kid.
De-energized Electric Motor Testing (EMT) equipment provides a suite of varying tests. Of all the differing tests, inductance is of utmost importance because it is affected by everything in the motor. From a review of the below formula, you can see that inductance measurement is comprised of a number of factors, the characteristics of the core material, the dimension of the core, and the wire or windings, i.e. number of turns, all affect the measured inductance.
In our Level I Thermographic Applications Course, we mention that there are imager settings that cannot be changed after an image is saved. As an instructor, I tend to focus on what I consider the Big Three; Focus, Range, and Perspective (Composition). Those are important for obvious reasons. No one wants a poorly focused image, nor one with areas of heat that can’t be measured, or for important areas to be left out of the image. But there’s another setting that can’t be changed that’s mentioned in the course manual that I have been guilty of not mentioning. Does anyone know which one?
When inspecting electrical equipment with IR, there are obviously many connection points where high resistance can develop, resulting in abnormal heating. We have all seen the pattern associated with increased electrical resistance. The localized heating and cooling off moving down the conductor away from the termination or component, but new thermographers may be missing some of the harder to spot areas where this failure mode is likely to occur.
Durant la préparation des grands repas de fin d’année avec votre famille ou vos amis, saisissez l’occasion pour vous distraire avec votre imageur thermique.
Faites une tournée de la cuisine avant le repas non seulement pour y grignoter mais emmenez-y aussi votre camera pour faire des découvertes étonnantes.