Undertake maintenance on electric motors and motor systems

Proper maintenance of motors can be a cost effective way to improve energy performance. Through proper maintenance, many organisations can increase the operating efficiency of their equipment by 10–15 per cent.¹

There are a number of steps to ensure motor systems are well maintained including:²

• Cleaning motors of dirt and grease, particularly fans on fan-cooled motors.³
• Checking for excessive vibration which may be a sign of motor misalignment.⁴
• Checking connections or wires that might be loose or damaged.⁵
• Keeping motors cool, by providing adequate ventilation, and keeping cooling fins and fan vents clear of dust, lint and fibres.
• Lubricating motors, bearings, gearboxes and chain drives according to the manufacturer’s recommended intervals and lubricant specifications.
• Ensuring belt drives are correctly tensioned, evenly matched and free of dirt and abrasives.
• Aligning motor drive shafts with the load.
• Surveying motors and bearing using an infra-red camera to identify motors which are running hot (and so consuming more energy than necessary).
• Checking that the load on the motor is not unnecessarily increased by avoidable inefficiencies in the driven system such as blocked air filters or liquid filters, closed dampers, partly closed valves etc.

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