Urgent repair to maintain process continuity
One of the pumps used to process effluent at a major factory was tripping out on an electrical fault.
- The unit was removed from site and transported to Qualtex workshop to test and investigate the cause of the failure.
- Electrical tests carried out confirmed an issue with the main supply cables.After disassembly,further inspections revealed that the terminal block had developed a fault and also the mechanical seals were at the end of their working life allowing fluid to leak into the motor windings.
- The cables were tested and the fault located at the glands. To reduce the outage time and to control the repair costs the technicians were able to remove the damaged section of the cable, re-terminate in a new termination block.
- The post repair electrical tests confirmed improved insulation resistance tests between each phase and to earth to an acceptable level. The motor stator was washed and oven dried to improve the DAR (dielectric absorption ratio).
- One of the bearing surfaces on the rotor shaft was out of tolerance and remedial work was carried out in the machine shop to rectify it.
- The rotor assembly was dynamically balanced, new bearings and mechanical seals fitted, and the motor / pump was reassembled and test run to verify the integrity of the repair.
By carrying out the repair using resources available locally the outage time was minimal.
