Troubleshooting A Small Electric Motor That Fails

Most of the electric motor failures occur at the start up.

Troubleshooting a small electric motor that fails.

Troubleshooting a small electric motor that fails is most effective when you follow a step by step procedure that rules out potential causes and helps isolate defective circuits or components. Hatfield vp of engineering and repair at heco all systems go goes over common types and causes of failures in electric motors at the 2016 reliabi. The most common cause of hvac failure during the hot summer is a motor capacitor. Stator is shorted or went to ground motor will make a humming noise and the circuit breaker or fuse will trip check for leaks through the coils.

Fuse or circuit breaker is tripped replace the fuse or reset the breaker. Motor capacitors store electrical energy for the motor to use. Electric motor test repair guide. The higher the capacitance of the capacitor the more energy it can store.

As with all modifications on electric or electronic equipment make sure that you unplug the motor before making any modifications or repairs. Motor has been running then fails to start. Most of them are caused by the over heating of motor. A quick check out can be done with a simple ohm meter but there s a lot more information to collect and weigh before actually putting it to use.

If the capacitor has failed the symptom is that the motor won t start. A damaged or burnt out capacitor may hold only a fraction of the energy needed for the. If leaks are found the motor must be replaced. These types of motors are what you will find in most home and workshop applications.

The motor s design may be capacitor start or capacitor run. You may hear it humming or observe that it s getting hot. A motor placed in storage may or may not work regardless of its physical appearance. A bad motor capacitor may cause starting problems or could shut off the motor while running.

There are also other factors which greatly affect the performance of electric motors such as low resistance dirt moisture over current and vibrations. Special purpose industrial motors dc three phase will have some differences and i still know nothing about them. When a motor fails it is often difficult to see why it failed just by looking at it. Electric motor starting run capacitor troubleshooting faqs questions answers about electric motor start boost or run capacitors capacitors are electric devices that get an electric motor running at start up or that help keep a motor running once it has started.

Here we provide an electric motor diagnostic table a troubleshooting guide that helps diagnose and repair most electric motor problems for motors found on hvac equipment in buildings such as air conditioners furnace or air handler blower fans oil burner motors well pumps and condensate return.