Selecting Electric Motors

Electric Motors
Part 1

What Size Motor to Select

How much power is needed
How much electrical power is available
Do you have enough capacity in service
entrance panel (breaker box)

Replaceing a Motor
Replacing a Small Portable Gas Engine:
rule: 2/3 to 3/4 as much power as engine

Replacing an Industrial Engine:

Maximum Brake or Rated Brake hp, use same
rule
Continuous Brake or Kilowatts, use same hp as
engine

Replacing Tractor PTO:

same hp as tractor

Motor on New Equipment

Use equipment manufacturers
recommendation

Installing a Motor on HandPowered Equipment

Rule of Thumb: 1/3 hp

Power Supply
Single Phase, 115 or 230 volts
limited to 7 1/2 hp
most farms and homes
many motors will run on 115 or 230 volts

Power Supply
3-Phase, 208, 230 or more volts

4 wires in power line

up to 1,000 hp
little or no light flickering
cost less
last longer
pay extra to install 3-phase power lines

Service Entrance Capacity

SEP must have about 3 times more
amperage capacity than the amp rating on
the nameplate of the motor
for extra amps for starting the motor
if motor is 20 amps, SEP must be at least 60
amps

May need a separate SEP

What Motor Speed to Select

Determine speed of equipment

Speed is in RPMs
Most common: 1750
If different speed is needed, use pulley,
gear, or chains to convert

Motor Duty
Motor Duty = amount of time the motor is
operating under full load, and how much
time it is stopped
Continuous Duty: constant full load for over
60 minutes at a time
Intermittent Duty: fully loaded for 5, 15, 30,
or 60 minutes

Starting Loads
Easy Starting Loads:

Shaded Pole Induction

Split Phase
Permanent-Split, Capacitor-Induction
Soft-Start

Starting Loads
Difficult Starting Loads

Capacitor-Start, Induction-Run
Repulsion-Start, Induction-Run
Capacitor-Start, Capacitor-Run
Three-Phase, General-Purpose
Perkey Concept: use tractor PTO to start
Repulsion-Start, Capacitor-Run

Other Factors to Consider

Direction of Rotation
Cost
Maintenance
motors with brushes cause radio interference
repulsion-start interferes at starting
motors with brushes require more maintenance

Bearing Types
Sleeve Bearings: brass, bronze or tin lined
cylinder
Ball Bearings: round steel balls surround
the shaft in a special cage

Lubrication
Sleeve Bearings: SAE 20 non-detergent or
electric motor oil
avoid over oiling
wipe off excess oil

Oil Wick: wick into small oil well under the

sleeve bearing
refill well at least twice / year

Lubrication: Sleeve Bearings

Yarn Packed: add few drops of oil every
few months to yarn
Ring Oiled: ring spins freely in oil reservoir
keep oil level up to fill plug

Lubrication: Ball Bearings

Prelubricated and Sealed: no maintenance
required
Hand Packed: disassemble bearing and
hand pack with grease every 2-5 years
Special Fittings: filler and drain plug
remove bottom plug before greasing

Mounting Position
Sleeve Bearings: parallel to floor
may need to rotate end shield to prevent oil
from running out of reservoir

Ball Bearing: any position

Enclosures
Motors produce heat
Cooling: fan on shaft, openings in end
Must protect from dust, water etc

Enclosures
Dripproof: (open-type)
must provide clean air & keep water away

Totally-Enclosed: no openings for

circulation of outside air through motor
may use external fan
higher operating temperature

Explosion Proof: hazardous locations

Mounting Base
Rigid (fixed to frame)
Rigid (adjustable screws)
Sliding Rails

Overload Protection
Excessive Current will flow to the motor if:
Load is too heavy
Voltage is too low

Types of Overload Protection

Built-In Overload Protection in Motor

Manual-Reset Type
Automatic-Reset

Manual Starting Switch with Overload

Protection (breaker in switch)
Magnetic Starting Switch with Overload
Protection (power tools)
Time-Delay Fuse in Motor Disconnect Switch
Current-Limiting Starters

Three-Phase Protection
Each power line needs protection (3)

Motor Drives
Direct: connect motor to equipment
Flexible-Hose Coupling
Flange Coupling: flange attaches to motor,
another to equipment, flanges attach to flexible
disk
Cushion-Flange Coupling: tire shaped cushion
between flanges
Flexible Shaft: direction of rotation is
important

Speed-Conversion Drives
Gear Drive
Chain-and-Sprocket Drive
Pulley-and-Belt Drive: pulleys connected by
continuous belt loop
V-Belt
Webbed Multi-V-Belt
Flat-Belt
V-Flat

What Size of Drive to Select

Shaft Size (Bore)
Some pulleys come with several bushings to
fit several sizes of shafts

Sizing Drives
When operating speeds are changed,
horsepower changes in same proportion
if equipment speed doubles, horsepower
requirement doubles

Fans, Blowers, Centrifugal Pumps:

speed increases, horesepower requirement increases
by cube of increment of increase

3 hp motor, double speed:

(3hp x 2 x 2 x 2) = 24 hp

Pulley Types
Standard V-Pulley
V-Step Pulley
Adjustable V-Pulley

Sizing Pulleys
Pulley Selection Chart (p.49)
Size of pulley on motor
under 1/2 hp, keep pulley under 2 diameter
over 1/2 hp, pulley 3 or larger

Move across chart to desired equipment

speed
Move up to find equipment pulley size

Sizing Pulleys
RPM of motor pulley X Dia. of motor pulley =
RPM of equip. pulley X Dia. equip. pulley
Example: Motor = 1725 rpms with 3 pulley
Desired rpm of equipment = 2100
What size pulley is needed on equipment?
1725 X 3 = 2100 X pulley
5175 = 2100 x pulley
5175 / 2100 = 2.46 or 2 1/2: pulley

Sizing Pulleys (Jack Pulley) p.50

1725 rpm X 2 pulley = rpm X 12 pulley

287.5 rpms on Jack pulley
287.5 rpm X 2 pulley = 70 rpm X Pulley
8 pulley on equipment

Belt Types
FP = Fractional Power (3L): 2 1/2 pulley or
smaller, less slippage
A-Section: (4L): heavier, larger pulleys to
prevent slippage (3 or larger)
B, C, D, E: larger belts, larger pulleys
Belt should have same width of groove as
pulley
Top of belt should sit flush with top of pulley

Factors Affecting Belt Life

keep pulleys aligned

adjust belt tension regularly & properly
keep belts clean
use proper belts
never stretch belts or sheaves