® SKF Condition Monitoring

How To Set Up and Use Your

Microlog Data Collector/Analyzer
for Motor Current Analysis
To analyze motor problems with your SKF
Condition Monitoring Microlog, you need a
CMSS6187 AC/DC Current Probe (Figures 1a
and 1b).
The CMSS6187 AC/DC Current Probe is a
battery powered, clamp-on current probe that
is used with a Microlog to measure AC or DC
currents up to 500 amps. The jaws clamp
around a conductor allowing you to measure
current without breaking the circuit. A Hall
sensor, mounted in a gap in the core, senses Figure 1a. The CMSS6187-1-CE AC/DC Current Probe.
the magnetic field produced by the current
being measured. An amplifier circuit
generates an output signal of 1 mV per amp.
The Current Probe/Microlog combination
produces a spectrum display of motor current
which provides you an opportunity to detect
early developing-stage motor problems. With
squirrel cage rotors in particular, a significant
change in the rotor impedance, due to open or
shorted induction bars, appears on your
spectrum display as sideband peaks around
Figure 1b. The CMSS6187-CE AC/DC Current Probe.
the line frequency component. The ratio of the
sideband amplitudes to the line frequency
amplitude provides an indication of operational The measurement of line and sideband
performance. These sideband peaks appear amplitudes is made difficult because the
at number of poles slip equidistant from the normal 400-line resolution does not accurately
line frequency component where separate the peaks. An automatic Microlog
selection of the optimized 1600 zoom FFT Line
RPM synchronous – RPM actual resolution is accomplished by setting a narrow
start frequency/maximum frequency span, for
slip Hz =
60
example, 54 to 68 Hz for a 60 Hz line (or 42 to
At near full load, if this amplitude ratio is
56 Hz for a 50 Hz line).
greater than 0.5% that is,
The Microlog can be set up automatically in
ROUTE mode to make these measurements in
Amplitude sideband 1
sequence with the normal vibration data
>
Amplitude line frequency 200
acquisition. Uploading this data to PRISM2
there is some concern of a motor malfunction.
A newly installed motor should show minimal
sidebands. Sidebands which appear in use,
as with any trend measurement, indicate
something is happening that should be
monitored. A rule-of-thumb alarm value is
computed by dividing the overall value by 200.
If the amplitude of the sideband peak is greater
Application Note than this value a developing early-stage fault
CM3022 should be considered. Figure 2. The MAIN Menu.
 2
How to Set Up and
Use Your Microlog
Data Collector/
Analyzer for Motor
Current Analysis
Figure 3. The UTILITIES Menu.
Figure 4. Setting up the DATA COLLECTION screen.
Figure 5. The MAIN Menu.
Figure 6. The ANALYZER Menu.
makes available the spectrum trends for
instantaneous development alarms, reports,
and diagnostic review.
Set up your Microlog for the measurements as
follows. On the Main menu, move the pointer
bar to Utilities (Figure 2) and press ENTER.
Move the pointer bar to System Setup (Figure
3) and press ENTER.
Configure the System Setup screen as in
Figure 4. Pay particular attention to setting
FFT:Hz, Auto Range:On, and User
Mode:Analysis.
Press ESCAPE twice to return to the Main
menu.
Move the pointer bar to Analyzer (Figure 5)
and press ENTER.
Move the pointer bar to Input Setup (Figure 6)
and press ENTER.
Figure 7. The INPUT SETUP Menu.
Figure 8. The ANALYZER Menu.
Figure 9. The SPECTRUM SETUP screen.
Figure 10. The ANALYZER Menu.
Configure the Input Setup screen as in Figure
7.
When you have completed the Input Setup
screen, press ESCAPE. Move the pointer bar
to Spectrum Setup (Figure 8) and press
ENTER.
Configure the Spectrum Setup screen as in
Figure 9.
When you have configured the Spectrum
Setup screen, press ESCAPE. Move the
pointer bar to Display (Figure 10) and press
ENTER.
Configure the Display Setup screen as in
Figure 11.
When you have configured the Display Setup
screen, press ESCAPE. This completes your
setup.
 3
How to Set Up and
Use Your Microlog
Data Collector/
Analyzer for Motor
Current Analysis
Figure 11. The DISPLAY SETUP screen.
Figure 12. The ANALYZER Menu.
WARNING!
High Voltage! Only a
qualified electrician should
place the probe on a high
voltage conductor.
– NOTE –
Trigger Setup and Marker Setup are not
required for this application.
Before taking data, insure that the motor under
test is at or near full load. Plug the CMSS6187
AC/DC Current Probe into your Microlog.
Clamp the Current Probe onto any of the three
leads (or lines going to the current transformer
in the case of high voltage lines). Make sure
that you have fresh batteries in the Current
Probe and that it is turned on.
Move the Microlog's pointer bar to Take Data
(Figure 12) and press ENTER. Microlog will
auto range and begin to take data.
Press the LIN/LOG key on the Microlog's
keypad for a LOG display.
Figure 13 is a simulated example of a motor
rotor bar measurement.
– NOTE –
In the Microlog's Input Setup screen, you set
the Input: 1 mV per EU, and set the
engineering units (EU) with Input Type: Volts.
Therefore, when the Microlog reads 1 mV, it
displays 1 volt. And, as we said earlier, the
AC/DC probe generates an output signal of 1
mV per amp. When the AC/DC probe reads
Figure 13. Overall (Line frequency Peak).
Figure 14. The cursor set to the sideband frequency
(57.6 Hz)
Figure 15. The ID entry screen which appears when
saving data.
15.68 amps, it generates a signal of 15.68 mV.
When the Microlog receives a signal of 15.68
mV, it displays 15.68 volts. Therefore, when
the Microlog displays 15.68 v, the AC/DC
probe is reading 15.68 amps.
Since the line frequency component is at least
50 dB greater than sideband frequency, the
overall level displayed is due to the line
frequency component. Compute the test
measurement ratio of overall divided by 200.
The Figure 13 overall of 15.68 amps divided by
200 is 0.075.
The Figure 14 sideband peak of 0.064 amps is
less than 0.075, suggesting normal motor
performance for this measurement.
Press the SAVE key on the keypad and enter
an ID (Figure 15).
Upload the data you have collected to your
PRISM2 database. The analysis can be
conducted in PRISM2 by setting the threshold
at some level below the sideband peaks. The
peak table display shows both line frequency
and sideband peak amplitudes. Apply the
same divide-by-200 alarm criteria as
previously described.
 The following chart, you will find a summary of the steps used in setting up your Microlog to collect
®
current data.

Main Utilities System FFT Hz Hz

Volts
Setup

Auto Range On
"How to Set Up
and Use Your
User Mode Analysis
Microlog Data
Collector/
Analyzer for
Type Volts
Motor Current
Analysis" Full Scale 10.0

Input
Setup mv/EU 1.0

Low
Frequency 40.0 Hz
Cutoff

Synchronous
RPM
Speed
SKF Condition Monitoring
Area Centers
54(60)

North and South America Start

4141 Ruffin Road Main Analyzer Frequency

San Diego, California 92123 42(50)

USA Spectrum
Setup
Telephone (619) 496-3400
FAX (619) 496-3531
68(60)
Maximum
Frequency
Europe, Middle East, Africa 56(50)
Postbus 2091
5300 CB Zaltbommel
The Netherlands Trace Single
Telephone (+31) 418-541010 Display
FAX (+31) 418-540455 Setup
Screen Magnitude

Asia, Pacific
153 Gul Circle, Jurong
Singapore 629610
Telephone (+65) 861-6922
FAX (+65) 861-3044

CM3022 (Revised 4-97)

Copyright © 1997 by
SKF Condition Monitoring, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED