Let’s say you rent a crane for constructing your house. You’re lowering a crucial piece of the wall…when all of a sudden, the crane starts accelerating like crazy to the ground!
You try and stop it, but the AC motor brakes aren’t working! The wall crashes to the ground and the ground explodes!
Ok, so we exaggerated on that last part. But it’s important to test your AC motors to make sure they’re working, or you could end up with a serious problem on your hands. So what can you do?
Well, you’re in luck. We’re here to give you this guide to troubleshooting AC motors and when you need to get new brakes for them!
But enough preamble! Let’s dive right in!
A Troubleshooting Guide for AC Motors
One frequent problem people run into regarding their AC motors has to deal with the motor getting overheated or the frame getting too hot to touch. If this is the case, first make sure the motor is not operating at a temperature past its threshold. After that, if the motor doesn’t appear burnt out, restart it.
For continued problems, reducing the overload peaks of your motor or swapping to a motor that can handle the temperature will hopefully do the trick.
If your motor starts making weird noises, turn off the motor and check that the motor is balanced properly. If that’s good, it could be that either the motor’s alignment is off or the bearings in the motor are damaged.
Got a motor that starts as slow as molasses? Then you’ll want to either cut the load the motor takes at the start down or find a way to up your torque speed.
But what if your motor won’t start? If that’s the case, make sure to check that the brushes and commutator in the motor are coming in contact with one another. This is because the brushes carry the electric charge to the commutator to start the whole cycle: if they don’t meet, your motor isn’t doing jack.
Do I Need New Brakes?
To understand when you need new brakes for your AC motor, we first have to understand the problems that occur. One of these is when the brakes get misaligned in the motor, which places stress on the brakes and wears them down faster. If the voltage of your motor runs incompatible to your brakes, you will also need new brakes.
This is because the spring mechanisms in the brake will be inadequate at stopping the friction disks within the motor and cause the coils meant to counter the springs to overheat. Some symptoms that your brakes are failing in the motor include the coil failing or a loss of torque (the force that allows the motor to create rotations).
Hit the Brakes and Relax
And there you have it! Now that you have this troubleshooting guide for AC motors, you’re ready to tackle any problem that comes your way! And if you want to learn more about AC motor brakes or need a top-notch provider for them, give us a call and let us help you!
