Motors Testing Lab
We manage an internationally accredited motor test lab at our facility in Raleigh, North Carolina. Our lab is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 through the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (Lab Code: 200081-0). Each year, we demonstrate our commitment to quality and competence in producing valid results. We follow these international guidelines to promote confidence in our findings and in our independence as a test laboratory.
Examples
Conveyance Motors Assessment
Increased package delivery is creating new demand for large warehouses with complex conveyor systems. Original equipment manufacturers purchase motors and integrate them with controls into these systems. This is a taxing application that requires specific performance, and our motor lab was able to assess and characterize it for a manufacturer.
Submersible Pumping Assessment
We assessed the performance of a motor used in submersible pumping applications. The original equipment manufacturer purchases stators from a motor manufacturer and over-sizes the rotor to fit application needs. Excessive heat is an issue, and the manufacturer was able to quantify design specifications through multiple rounds of testing on our dynamometer.
Motor Efficiency Test Design
We assist our clients with the development of in-house motor testing capabilities. This involves understanding the sizes and types of motors to be tested, the types of test standards to conduct, the accuracy and repeatability in testing desired, and if ISO 17025 or NVLAP accreditation is required. Our clients include motor manufacturers, variable frequency drive manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers that employ motors and drives in their equipment, the government of South Korea, and a university in California.
Advanced Energy Certified and EASA Accreditation
Through our Advanced Energy Certified program and the Electrical Apparatus Service Association’s EASA Accreditation program, we have helped numerous motor service centers achieve and maintain quality procedures that restore motor efficiency during the repair process. In 2020, we celebrated 20 years of Advanced Energy Certified® with our first Proven Efficiency Verification client, Hupp Electric Motors.
EASA/AEMT Rewind Study
We supported the follow-up to 2003’s EASA/AEMT Rewind Study that evaluated motors with premium efficiencies. All pre- and post-repair testing was performed in our lab, and the study found that motor efficiency can be maintained during rewind and repair by using established good practices, consistent with the results of the earlier investigation.
Motor and Drive Training
We offer a variety of motor and drive education opportunities to our clients. Recently, we have also provided webinars via Plant Engineering magazine to hundreds of its readers, covering motor management, motor troubleshooting and maintenance, and variable frequency drive benefits and operation.
Certification of Motor Efficiency for Regulatory Requirements
Our Energy Efficiency Verification Services program certified its first motors for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory requirements in 2020 and has renewed that certification in 2021. We added our second motor manufacturer this year and continue to promote our services to manufacturers seeking DOE compliance.
AHRI Variable Frequency Drive Certification
For almost a decade, we have partnered with UL to test VFDs for the AHRI Certified® program. Each year, VFDs are pulled from manufacturers’ inventory by UL and sent to our lab to be tested to the AHRI 1210 standard.
NOM-014 and NOM-016 Certification
We are the only independent lab outside Mexico to receive NORMA Oficial Mexicana (NOM) designation for electric motor testing. We partner with the Asociación de Normalización y Certificación A.C. to assist motor manufacturers with this compliance requirement in Mexico.
New Motor Design Proof Testing
We have consistently worked with inventors to bring new motor technologies to market. In 2021, we collaborated with a national lab to test a switched reluctance machine that a utility in the Midwest was considering for its energy efficiency programs. We also tested our first motor with a printed circuit board stator that eliminates traditional copper and iron found in induction machines.