In this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of spare parts for electric motors and generators, including an explanation of why the right spare parts planning is crucial to your industrial plant, how and which spare parts to order and keep available at all times, and suggestions for managing spare parts in your warehouse.
With a simple look at today’s life, you can understand the depth of influence of various industries. The light and heat in our homes, the cars and trains and planes we ride, the food we eat, and the water we drink are all masterpieces of different industries; industries that are improving and advancing the goals of human life every day. The main group of industries that play a colorful role in our lives, such as the food and drug industry, water and sewage industry, transportation industry, mining industry and various metals such as copper, steel, gold, oil and gas industry, petrochemical and refining industry, green and renewable energy and others.
For more information about industrial solutions, please hit the following link:
Products and services of each of these industries provide speed, quality and security to our lives. But have you ever wondered how these products and services are produced? How does the city subway move? How is the water pressure of our shower provided? How is my beautiful engagement ring made? It is precisely at this point that the golden role of electric motors in the production process of each of these products or services becomes very important.
Yes! The beating hearts of every industrial complex are electric motors and generators that cause movement and life in the production line. Stopping any electric motor in any industry means stopping the production of goods or providing services that the industry affords to people’s lives. We want to prevent the stoppage of these rotating equipment and save the production line with some important economic and industrial tricks.
Electromotors are rotating equipment that convert electric power into moving power, and on the contrary, generators convert moving power into electric power, in other words, these two devices are the entry and exit windows of energy and movement to the world of humans.
Each of the electric motors and generators have different and varied types, choosing each type depends on the working conditions and expectations of the final consumer. There is no time to talk about different types of electric motor here but we will post a useful blog about that for you in the near future.
Electric motors and generators are machines that work with minimal energy loss and therefore have a long usage life. A high-quality electric motor is expected to have a 25-40 year usable life span. During this period electric motors or generators may be damaged and taken out of the normal work routine due to various reasons such as unwanted human errors or systematic errors. In case of these kinds of problems, we can immediately fix the issue with the help of spare parts and restarting the production line.
When is the right time to buy spare parts?
When do we have to buy a complete and new electric motor or generator instead?
Let’s answer the above questions:
- New Project: If you have not bought the electric motor or generator yet and want to start a new project, it’s the only route is to buy a new and complete one!
- Device Ruined: If the current electric motor or generator is so damaged that it has lost its essence and structure and the repair cost is higher than the price of buying a new device, buy a new one.
- Bottlenecks: If the current electric motor/generator is among the 10 important and sensitive electric motors of the production line and their stoppage will definitely lead to the stoppage of the production line, and it is also not similar to any of the electric motors in the warehouse, you will need to buy a new complete electric motor/generator device of the specs required!
- Day One: It doesn’t matter where, when and how you buy an electric motor or generator. Be sure to get the right spare parts from day one.
- Focus: Don’t forget topic number 4!
What are the right parts for all types of electric motors and generators?
Before doing anything, consult with the following experts regarding the most important spare parts of the electric motor or generator:
１- Electric motor manufacturer: The manufacturer knows very well which parts are required and essential as spare parts for each product.
２- Production line designer: The production line designer easily determines which electric motors and which parts are critical for the work of the production line.
３- Technical workers and operating experts: those who deal with electric motors or generators in the production line can provide a list of required and efficient spare parts.
By putting together the suggestions of these people, the general parts of the required spare parts are determined, but it is still not enough. Decision-making requires knowing the types of spare parts in rotating equipment such as electric motors and generators, which we will discuss below…
What kind of components does each electromotor, or a generator have?
Which ones should be available as spare parts in the warehouse?
The electric motor or generator is the result of the integration of electrical engineering, mechanics and physics. From a mechanical engineering point of view, an electromotor or generator is a rotary equipment; it means that some of the internal components are constant and the other is rotating. From a technical point of view, movement is formed against a factor called friction, and when rotational motion occurs, in addition to the friction of the vibration agent, it also causes energy and damage to rotary equipment.
If the devices are well maintained and served, the effect of friction and vibration is minimized but does not disappear. This means that over time the negative effect of vibration and friction can even damage the electromotor rotary parts, even if the equipment is made of the highest standard and quality.
The result is that the first and most important spare parts that should be foreseen are related to the rotating parts, such as bearings and the cooling fan, different parts of the rotor, and parts that join the rotating and constant parts of the electromotors such as the end shields in the drive side and non-drive side of the electric motors.
From an electrical engineering point of view, if the central core or coil is seriously damaged, even if a new winding is done, the initial motor efficiency will not be reachable. Therefore, the constant part of the electromotor or generator with the new coil or winding is eliminated as a spare piece.
What remains is the terminals box, which is the location of power cables into the electromotor or generator. Providing components or full boxes is one of the best spare parts choices.
For more information about Electric Motors and generators international standards, please follow the mentioned link:
Strategy of Spare Parts Warehouse
Suppose you are the director of supply and supply of rotary equipment in one of the major oil industry companies in Alberta province. You will find hundreds of different requests from colleagues daily and responding to these requests will fill your whole working time. You are excellent until it stops with a small bug in a sensitive electromotor of the entire production line. This electromotor does not have the same, and a very small spare can solve the problem, but you haven’t purchased such a piece so far and it is not available in stock!
The problem is here. At best, this piece can take between a week and one month, which means that you have to stay under the pressure of all the managers of the collection during this time because you did not make the necessary forecasts. The life of a factory depends on the provision of products or services intermittently, which means it is facing high financial and mental losses.
The solution is here:
1- Prepare a complete list of rotating equipment in the production line, such as electric motors, generators, pumps, gearboxes, and fans.
2- Give priority and importance to each of the electric motors. Get help from the production line designer and your colleagues in the factory to determine their priority in the production line.
3- Determine exactly how many of each type of electric motor are exactly the same in the production line. To determine the degree of similarity, compare the parameters of power, speed, voltage, the height of the middle of the shaft to the ground, the distance of the electromotor base holes from the front and side views, and the diameter of the electromotor flange.
4- The factory’s need for spare parts is provided as follows:
| FIXED PARTS | ROTARY PARTS | COMPLETE PARTS | COMPLETE MOTOR | MOTOR SPEC.TYPE OF DUTY | PRIORITY LEVEL |
| 1 SET OPTIONAL | 1 SET OPTIONAL | 1 SET OPTIONAL | 1 | ONE PCS-SPECIAL DUTY | RED Motors |
| 2 SETS FOR ALL | 2 SETS FOR ALL | 0 | 1 SET FOR ALL | 2 TO 10 PIECES | YELLOW Motors |
| 5 SETS FOR ALL2 TIMES A NEW MOTOR COST | 5 SETS FOR ALL2 TIMES A NEW MOTOR COST | 0 | 0 | MORE THAN 10 PCS -GENERAL DUTY | GREEN Motors |
5- Check the list of spare parts in the warehouse and buy whatever is less than the above list.
6- Make a dynamic warehouse list. Update the spare parts list if you send even one spare part to the production line.
TIPS:
1- As much as possible, get spare parts from the original manufacturer.
2- By checking the purchase documents of the electric motor or generator, make sure that the manufacturer will provide you with spare parts for how many years.
3- Sometimes, instead of buying a complete electric motor ready to work as a spare part, it is better to buy all the parts of a motor separately. If you buy carefully, you will get a better price and more flexibility in using parts.
4- Buying spare parts is a type of investment in industrial units, but it requires a lot of precision.
5- Do not be lazy in buying spare parts. Proceed as planned.
6- If you have to replace the motor winding, to protect the entire system, test the repaired electric motor before restarting. At least the test should be done without load.
7- If you have to change or replace the rotor or fan. Be sure to balance the rotor before restarting.
8- If after replacing the spare part, the electrical current of the electric motor changes, or the vibration of the electric motor increases, or if an unusual sound is heard, turn off the electric motor and contact the supplier of the spare part.
9- Try to find out about the warranty conditions of the products as much as possible and use them.
10- If you buy a new electric motor, deliver the healthy parts of the previous electric motor to the warehouse as spare parts of the new electric motor.
11- Try to increase your information about new electric motor products and brands. Pay attention to this point, the defective electric motor that is in front of you today was produced about 20 years ago and at that time the technology of 40 years ago was used. During this time, physical science has made significant progress and now electric motors with very high efficiency and excellent quality are available. If you insist on supplying electric motors with the same technology as 60 years ago, you will face high cost, low efficiency and waste of money.
In this article, we tried to show you the importance of spare parts for all types of electric motors and how to identify and supply them. Our team is ready to help you with an experience of more than 140 years in the production of all types of electric motors and generators. For more information, please view the link below:
Or feel free to contact us on our website or through email!