Doing the right amount of repair in response to a motor failure is a balancing act between speed and thoroughness. The good news is you can return the equipment to service before completing all the steps of a properly thorough replacement of a failed motor.
The “secret” is to send the failed motor to a motor shop for a forensic examination. The shop can then tell you what the motor died from, and you can then correct that problem so the replacement motor gets to live out its normal life expectancy.
Bearing failure is a mode that motor shops frequently see. Two major culprits are improper bearing lubrication (e.g., using too much or mixing grease types) and current running through the bearings.
You can solve the lubrication problem by determining which type of grease and how much of it to apply during a motor lubrication and making sure to stick to that plan. But the burned bearing problem is a bit tougher to solve. We’ll look at some causes and cures, in Part 2.
