PlantServices.com has assembled a list of motor-related articles and put them in one place. Make sure you keep this page bookmarked and come back often — we're always updating!
Efficiency
Maximizing energy savings by replacing motors and reducers
Any motor upgrade should be evaluated by its life cycle cost.
Cooling tower fans driven by less
Motor and drive system reduces complexity, increases efficiency.
On prime movers, macro and micro
Industry and Mother Nature have both developed highly efficient motors.
Working the motor maze
Taking a total-cost-of-ownership approach to motor replacement can save big dollars — and help save the planet.
Web Hunter: Proper electric motor selection and installation can pay dividends
A motor’s lifetime operating cost can exceed its purchase price by an order of magnitude, says Executive Editor Russ Kratowicz.
Buy now, pay later
Motor system reliability considerations that can save you money.
Healthcare for a motor-drive system
Perform no test that isn’t cost-effective from the machine’s point of view.
When variable-speed drives make cents
Do VSDs always generate energy savings?
An energy diet for electric motors
The growing cost of energy for manufacturing puts stress on maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Digital decisions maximize motor efficiency
Is your industrial motor system using more energy than it should? The right software package help owners and facility managers identify the ideal motor system.
Modern VSDs are more capable than ever
The goal of a variable-speed drive (VSD) is to modulate motor speed to reduce power demand and generate energy savings.
How to ride through sags and outages
Research and hard work uncovered a way to get your motors past power quality problems.
Drive up energy efficiency
The constant-speed approach to AC motors made a lot of sense when energy was cheap and drives technology was in its infancy.
The war between voltage spikes and motors
Knowing what to look for gives your motors the edge in surviving AC adjustable-speed inverter power.
Reduce costs with variable speed drives
Variable speed drives offer the ability to monitor and reduce energy consumption, foresee line and motor problems and gain fine speed and torque control.
Forces to be reckoned
Fluid power technology is producing hydraulic pumps and motors that are more compact, efficient and economical than ever before.
Motor design matters
Contributing Editor Sheila Kennedy reports that construction changes are improving energy efficiency, reliability and process control, and for good reason.
Beware the big bad brownouts
A long duration of undervoltage can toast your motors, but there are ways to prevent the problem.
Maintenance
Get the most from motors
An improved maintenance program for your electric motors and drives will have a great effect in achieving uptime and reliability.
A little more now can save a lot later
Use motor management to cut the cost of maintaining your fleet.
Bring them back
How to recondition motor controls.
Reliable torque
Knowing about motor failure modes can help you avoid unnecessary maintenance costs.
Keep your motors running
Be prepared for power problems by in-situ testing of installed ride-through devices.
Rethink motor repair/replace decisions
The old repair/replace question arises: Does the 57% threshold still apply?
Three easy lessons
Online and offline motor analysis can prevent catastrophic motor failures.
Motors: Repair, replace or upgrade?
Most facilities are lacking in established motor management policies, which makes motor-related decisions harder and costlier than they need to be.
Electric Motors—Repair or Replace?
The key is to plan ahead.
Thermography's role in motor monitoring
You don't need a highly trained expert toting expensive equipment to perform thermographic analysis anymore.
Reliability
Stepper motors vie with servos
Contributing Editor Sheila Kennedy reports that better motors, drivers, controllers and systems are powering a lively competition.
Encoded motion
By their nature and usage, industrial servo motors must be engineered, designed and built to more rigorous levels of reliability.
Compressor power is not measured by amps alone
Use kilowatts or characterize the motor curve to determine operating conditions.
Brush life in DC motors
Longevity depends on a good brush film that, in turn, depends on a lot of controllable factors.
Predicting motor failure
Power signatures reveal potential problems with performance and reliability.
DC motor brush life
Everything depends on a good brush film that depends on a lot of controllable factors.
Motor service
Editor in Chief Paul Studebaker, CMRP, says you have to appreciate expertise where you find it.
Unbalanced currents
Motor users and installers get concerned when they detect unbalanced phase currents feeding a three-phase motor.
An attractive technology
Those magnetic drives and couplings can tackle big problems.
Maintain the tension
An AC motor can function as a brake for unwinding applications.
Tracking down excellence
If you've never visited a motor rewind service center, it's time you did.
AC induction motor slip
What it is and how to minimize it.