If you outsource maintenance of your facility’s electrical equipment and power distribution system, you’re in good company: a 2009 survey found that 78% of commercial and industrial facilities use service agreements for electrical equipment maintenance.
While motors are clearly a piece of electrical equipment, not all service agreements include managing motors. When you consider that motors consume 25 – 80% of the electricity used in commercial and industrial facilities, assuming someone else is keeping your motors in peak condition could be a very costly mistake.
Be a more-informed consumer of electrical maintenance service agreements; ask yourself these three quick questions to determine whether your electrical service agreement includes motor management:
- Does your contract describe the scope of motor services?
Your contract with the electrical maintenance service provider should list the types of equipment and extent of services covered by the service agreement, and a price list for additional services that they offer not directly included in the service agreement. In my personal experience, such agreements either only include motors over a certain size, or shift motor maintenance to the additional services list. Some agreements specifically exclude motor maintenance because the provider considers motors to be process—not electrical—equipment. Don’t assume where motor-related services fall; check the contract. If they’re not explicitly listed in the scope, then your provider is not managing your motors.
- What is the size, age, and health of your motor portfolio?
If your electrical maintenance contractor has inventoried all of your electrical equipment, including your motors, you should receive regular reports with the total horsepower, average age, and general health of motors in your facility. At least annually, the provider should provide a list of motors to replace and a business case for these replacements. Finally, the provider should recommend alternatives for motors or locations that frequently fail in order to increase your facility’s reliability. If your contractor can’t answer these questions or doesn’t provide you with these analyses regularly, then your provider is not managing your motors.
- How and when does your electrical maintenance contractor inspect your motors?
If your electrical maintenance contractor isn’t inspecting your motors at least once every three months, or if they only check your motors during shutdown, then your provider is not managing the performance of your motors and motor-driven systems. Certainly, there are maintenance activities that can only be done during shutdown, such as greasing bearings (only for those motors without enclosed bearings) and conducting Megger tests. However, motor health is more accurately diagnosed while operating; and, load, operating efficiency, heat loss, and vibration can only be diagnosed when a motor is operating under load.
If you’ve just discovered that your electrical maintenance service agreement isn’t as robust as you previously thought, request that motor management be added to your scope of work during your next contract renewal/negotiations. Tools, such as Motors@Work, make it easier for your operations and maintenance staff to conduct your own motor management, and for your electrical maintenance service provider to generate the analyses you need to get optimal performance from your motors.
Nicole Dyess is the Director of Client Solutions for Motors@Work, which provides cloud-based energy management solutions for maintaining and operating motors and motor-driven systems at their peak efficiency and lowest cost. To learn more about motor management best practices, such as how to reduce your motor-related energy expenses by up to 30%, check out www.motorsatwork.com or email Nicole.