View All What are variable frequency drives? What are AC motors?
10 essential maintenance and troubleshooting tips for VFDs
A properly maintained variable frequency drive (VFD) can provide decades and cost-effective service. Making VFD inspections and maintenance part of facility oversight can improve outcomes.
High-performance motor designs
Motor innovations: Advanced motor technologies influence motor form factors, performance, and efficiencies. Examine how these technology advances can help with your next set of applications.
2019 Motor Drives Study research
Five trends on buying and, specifying motor drives for industrial automation applications.
Motors, fans, pumps, compressors: IIoT avoids downtime
Think Again: Remote monitoring, sensors, analytics and real-time intelligence is helping those who manufacture, use, and repair motors and attached critical assets to avoid downtime with prescriptive maintenance technologies, says EASA and Plant Engineering research.
Diagnosing motor health: Start with the basics
Temperature, power quality, and torque all are strong indicators of a motor's health.
Six common reasons why electric motors fail
A number of reasons can cause an electric motor to fail. Six reasons are discussed.
The ABCs of VFDs
Find the right application to match the motor need and know the conditions for using a variable frequency drive (VFD).
Understanding ac induction motor basics
Knowing how magnetism and electromagnetic induction work are crucial to understanding how an ac induction motor works and functions.
How does motor current analysis help motors?
Motor current analysis provides information on existing issues such as loose connections, burned windings, and grounded windings.
Importance of motor winding analysis in a facility
Motor faults and failure can cause disruptions to business operations and lead to loss of productivity and reduced profits.
Why online motor testing is a great PdM tool
Although offline or static testing is an important part of a routine maintenance program, dynamic testing of motors can be done more frequently and, in many cases, with greater benefit.
VFD efficiency: Three best practices
The use of variable frequency drives (VFDs) has many benefits including improved process control, energy savings, higher reliability and reduced wear and tear.
Considerations for using VFDs with standard motors
End users desire speed and/or torque control procure and install VFDs to modify existing applications where a standard-induction motor is in place. There are a few areas of concern involving misapplication of a standard induction motor.
VFDs offer cost-effective benefits for plants
Variable frequency drives (VFDs) are designed to reduce energy usage by controlling the speed of the motor and can offer cost-effective benefits for plants.
Prevent shaft current from causing motor damage
Awareness and testing for potential shaft current on motors can help companies experience fewer problems with downtime and equipment failure.
Using medium-voltage VFDs for better pump process control
How product innovations are revolutionizing pump monitoring and process control management.
VFD trends and solutions for drive systems
Harmonics mitigation, filtering voltage spikes are two key issues.
A systematic approach to ac motor repair
ANSI/EASA AR100 provides best practices for mechanical repair, electrical repair including rewinding, and testing that help apparatus rebuilders maintain or enhance the performance, reliability, and energy efficiency of ac and dc motors and generators.
Motor base support and alignment
A basic understanding of frame construction can help minimize motor vibration.
Avoid over-specifying inverter-duty motors
When combining a motor and inverter, the application should tell you what type of motor fits best. If you follow these guidelines, you can avoid more than is necessary.
Permanent magnet motors outperform induction motors in many applications
Permanent magnet synchronous motors offer significant advantages on high-energy-consuming and high-dynamic applications, compared to induction motors. See table, photo gallery.
Thinking inside the box: Energy costs drive ac-drive innovations
The types of ac drives used with ac induction motors are V/Hz, encoderless and flux vector. While there are many drives available for synchronous and servo motors, induction motors have the majority of applications. Sensorless vector control is the same as encoderless vector control, which better describes its operation.
Basics of power management software
Powerful analytical tools — software, PCs, networks, and the internet — are within a click of the mouse. Power monitoring equipment captures data; software analyzes critical data required for responsible electrical energy management. Power management software tools provide control over how you manage your use of electricity.
Basics of how to minimize harmonics
The August 14, 2003 blackout emphasized that power quality should not be taken lightly. The blackout was caused by, and affected the power grid — our nation's electrical infrastructure. The issues raised by this event should and will come under scrutiny. Just as the nation looks at its power quality issues, plant engineers must look at power quality issues inside the plant.
Choosing between IEC and NEMA motor controls
Key Concepts NEMA and IEC motor controls differ in size, ruggedness, and complexity. The solid-state overload relay is common to both NEMA and IEC motor controls.