Can High-Efficiency LV Motors Be Rewound While Maintaining Their Original Premium Efficiency Levels?

High-efficiency LV motors are becoming more prevalent, even replacing old plant motors. The main drivers for this are legislative requirements to reduce electricity consumption, increased electricity costs, and pressure to reduce carbon footprints. But even when each motor has a lower power rating, there are often thousands of these LV motors installed in a typical petrochemical plant. This begs the question: Can high-efficiency LV motors be rewound while maintaining their original premium efficiency levels?This paper explains the high-efficiency motor design and components and evaluates the influence on performance of different repair levels; e.g., basic repairs, stator rewinds, core damage and rotor damage. Case studies are presented showing when repairs can maintain efficiency, when they can’t, and instances where the repair can increase efficiency. The paper concludes that it is definitely possible to repair a high-efficiency LV motor while maintaining or even improving efficiency.