Case Studies & White Papers

The Company Easy Tool is an Italian Condition Monitoring Solutions Provider with service and support representatives in Italy. Easy Tool, located in the town of Fabriano, in the province of Ancona, represents ALL-TEST Pro condition monitoring instruments and performs regular condition monitoring services for a local business that Gravure prints food packaging materials. This gravure […]

Ethanol has been a clean-burning fuel used in the United States since the 1850s. Ford’s Model T automobile was designed to run on ethanol, and while ethanol was banned during the Prohibition era, it gained traction in the 1970s at a time of high gas prices and concern around oil imports. Ethanol made a major […]

A 398 KW MV motor that runs a blower fan in a cement plant was showing strange behavior. The vibration equipment indicated vibration amplitudes that became chronic with the passage of time. The maintenance team not knowing what the issue was, ran the motor until the bearings had to be replaced. This happened several times […]

Preface A large majority of rotating equipment rely on Rolling Element Bearings (REB) for continued successful operation. Functionally Rolling Element Bearings carry the load of the shaft, internally position the shaft and separate the rotating from non-rotating components. Identifying rolling element bearing faults before they disrupt operations or affect product quality are the basis for […]

On-Line Electrical Motor Testing 101 Electrical Signature Analysis (ESA) is an on-line test method where voltage and current waveforms are captured while the motor system is running and then, via a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), a spectral analysis is done by the provided software. From this FFT, faults related to incoming power, the control circuit, […]

Instrumentation led these users to more informed decisions. By Mike Bjorkman, ALL-TEST Pro, LLC & Stephen Hogue, Less Watts Inc.   Unlike residential consumers, industrial and commercial companies pay for the reactive kilovolt-amps (kVA) demand power they use along with the active kilowatt (kW) energy they consume. Each electrical power provider supplies reactive kVA that […]

Description Location: Mid-Western Truck Transmission Manufacturing Facility Dynamometer Motor: 200 Horsepower, Special Motor and Dynamometer Drive, 480 Volts Effected Systems: Final In-Process Inspections, 8% of capacity effected Failure Cost: >$125,000 in equipment, not including production, delivery and manpower Savings: >$500,000 in equipment, not including production, delivery and manpower. A special dynamometer system failed at a […]

A large 8,000 HP, 13.2 kV, 200 RPM synchronous motor that operates a reciprocating compressor at a chemical plant tripped on ‘short-circuit’ warning during startup, using a General Electric Multilin®, in 65 milli-seconds. The motor was tested using a number of different technologies, including surge comparison testing, which did not detect a fault. An ALL-TEST […]

One nuclear power generating facility, located in the Northeastern United States, relies on four vertical service water pumps to feed water to a heat exchanger which cools the sealed ultrapure water/steam that drives the turbine generators. Of the four identical service water pumps, all of which had 30-foot-long shafts, two of the pumps began to […]

Description Location: Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Equipment: 50 HP, 3600 RPM, 480 Volt, Open Drip Proof, Cooling pump motor Effected Systems: 500 MW Generator Bearing Cooling Failure Cost: $1,000,000 Savings: >$1,000,000   A 50 HP, 3600 RPM, delta connected electric motor was installed and rotation checked on the Vermont Yankee generator bearing cooling pump. […]

The Company Gerdau is one of the largest producers of steel and steel recycling in North America, with an annual manufacturing capacity of approximately 10-million metric tons of steel products. Their operation in Midlothian, Texas, maintains an inventory of about 70 cranes which range in size and use throughout the steel mill and materials recycling […]

The Company A large automotive manufacturing facility in the Midwest scheduled a planned shutdown in July 2018. Having been in operation since the early ‘80s, the plant spans over 3 million square feet and contains hundreds of motors and other essential equipment required for their stamping, injection molding, welding, painting, and assembly processes. The Engineering […]

Initial Findings A 6.6 kV motor that is used to cool the temperature of gas after going through a gas phase polymerization process at a Petrochemical plant was experiencing abnormal symptoms. A technician conducted a vibration test and noticed an abnormal vibration. Another test was conducted with no load and the abnormal vibration remained. The […]

A work order was issued by a Waste Water Treatment Plant Technician requesting electrical support due to a failed floating agitator. The breaker had tripped and the mixer is a necessary asset in the treatment process. When Two craftsmen investigated, they found that two wire nuts/splices in the termination box had burned and it was […]

The Company A major automotive manufacturer, located in North America with four manufacturing plants, utilizes MCA™ (Motor Circuit Analysis™) to keep their operations running.   The Application A conveyor motor was tested during an annual inspection that operated in the part transfer line. If left operational, without the corrections found conducting predictive maintenance inspections, as […]

EV shop and Maintenance talk with Dr. Mark Quarto from Quarto Technical Services Electric vehicle (EV) powertrains are much simpler compared to traditional combustion engines. These motors do not require the normal service such as oil changes, spark plug, fuel and oil filter maintenance. Electric motors are generally reliable, long-lasting and easy to maintain. Even […]

Easy Tool, a Condition Monitoring Solutions Provider in Italy, works with a paint production facility in Ancona, a city along Italy’s Adriatic coast. This paint producer has worked with Easy Tool since 2013, relying on their highly knowledgeable field engineers to perform regular condition monitoring services for the motors, fans, pumps, and mixers operating in […]

Introduction Noise and vibration was investigated on a 7.5 horsepower, 1750 RPM, 575 Vac motor and gearbox using the ALL-TEST PRO™ OL (ATPOL) motor current signature analyzer. One set of data requiring less than one minute of data provided the information necessary. The number of rotor bars, stator slots, bearing information and gears was not […]

Industry’s use of Motor Drives for AC motors continues to grow and the Pulse-Width Modulated drive (PWM) has become the common industry standard for low to medium horsepower applications. As with the other components within the motor system, the PWM drive has different failure modes and for troubleshooting purposes an electrician commonly uses a Digital […]

Introduction Allison Transmission, General Motors Corporation is the world leader in design, manufacture and sales of commercial-duty automatic transmissions, hybrid propulsion systems, and related parts and services for on-highway trucks, buses, off-highway equipment and military vehicles. Aside from its primary location in Indianapolis, IN, Allison Transmission, part of GM’s Powertrain Division, has International regional offices […]

If a steel mill was at risk of losing $5,000 for every minute of unplanned downtime, it would be no surprise to see that steel mill implement a preventive maintenance program to keep their equipment running reliably to avoid unscheduled shutdowns. One American steel manufacturer who understands the importance of preventive maintenance sends their team […]

The Companies Since 2008, a Municipal Utility District (MUD) in Texas has worked with Less Watts, Inc., a company that specializes in motor reliability and power quality testing for the water and wastewater industry. Less Watts, Inc. supports Metropolitan Utility Districts by providing motor acceptance testing, commissioning, and condition monitoring services. When one of the […]

A large, well-known automotive manufacturer compared in-house and third-party motor testing services at one of their facilities. Guess which one saved the most time and money? An automotive manufacturer planned to have their midwestern United States facility shutdown for predictive maintenance servicing in July 2018. Having been in operation since the early 1980s, the plant […]