Motor Testing 101 - Testing a Motor with a Klein Tools ET600 Meter

[@chrisconway4218]

Good video man. Found it when doing research on the Klein megger. Watched a few others. Keep them coming. Industrial mechanic and what not here...

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Thanks! I just started playing around with making videos of the various projects I play around with in the home shop. I'm glad you enjoyed the videos. I'm still on the learning curve with the whole thing but it's been fun and that's what matters.

[@1kayaker759]

Good video except the the Low-Ohms Measurements of .005K = 5 Ohms; not 5K

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Fair enough, it's easy to mis-speak doing these things. Thank you for the correction. If I can figure out the edit function I'll make the changes.

[@jc-vq5ue]

Thanks for the video!!

[@GrayCo]

Great video here. Thx. It'd be helpful having a video demonstrating the Klein vs hand-cranked megohmmeters.

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Thanks, I'm glad you like the video I will get the comparison video between the three types of megohmmeters I have here on my to do list. Thank you for the input!

[@mikeboese1867]

Great video, loved it. Just bought the Klein megger and suggest this to Electricians that need to troubleshoot without the expense of a high dollar meter.

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Glad it helped! Thanks for the support...much appreciated!

[@tambosnipes1652]

Yeah fluke are a little to heavy to swallow

[@TalkingHandsTools]

@StephenRoss-po1rp nothing wrong with the old crank style. I have an old Biddle myself. It's in video here on the channel where I tried to simulate a break in the insulation. The video didn't go as planned, but I did get to show the operation of different kinds of Meggers in it.

[@waynehenson1094]

Good video thank you.

[@AB-yu2tj]

How is turn to turn shorts in winding diagnosed when it does not short to chassis on a single phase 220 or 120 VAC motor?

[@TalkingHandsTools]

What do you test with a regular ohm meter across the field coils of the motor? The megger may not be the correct diagnosis tool for what you are looking for if nothing has shorted to the chassis. Also if the motor has a capacitor test that to ensure that has not failed.

[@AB-yu2tj]

@@TalkingHandsTools thank you for the reply. Capacitors are test and checked off. What I can measure is the amp draw while motor in question is running it is about 1.5 to 2 amp more that usual. Which based on my experience points to a bad run capacitor. But it's not so in this case. If it's a turn to turn where one wire is shorted to the wiring right next to it inside the winding spool I can't even see if a very accurate micro or mili resistance meter would be able to point it out

[@TalkingHandsTools]

What condition are the bearings in? You may have to take the bell ends off and visually inspect the rotor and stator. If there's signs of melting in either you may be looking at a heat related failure. Bearings failing can cause overcurrent faults as well.

[@AB-yu2tj]

@@TalkingHandsTools bearings? maybe. But one Motor was barely a year old. I didn't open it because it was under warranty for 5 years. But I have 2 in the shop in my own pile with the same issue. Though these guys were about 10-12 years old when I took them out. But you know how it is with one's own pile of motors that need rebuilt or something..... end up just paying rent for them for now. Lol

[@TalkingHandsTools]

That is interesting were all 3 used on the same piece of equipment? I agree bearings are unlikely on one a year old unless there are some goofy motor shaft loading things going on. Are these motors mounted to something that may require shims for proper alignment? Or do they have an abnormally high loading for their size?

[@adambergmann7716]

Did you say 240 v single phase using l1 l2 l3 ? Should there only be l1 and l2?

[@TalkingHandsTools]

This was a three phase motor, so it has three poles. I don't believe I said single phase in the video, but if I did, I misspoke. This motor might be getting set up to run on single phase, but more on that in the future. Thank you for the comment, and I apologize for any confusion.

[@adambergmann7716]

Thanks . No problem, it was around 1530 in the video you mentioned it.

[@TalkingHandsTools]

That's a good catch. I'm referencing a future project. We intend to use this motor to make a rotary phase converter. In order to do that, we will be running the motor on 240V single phase. The motor will generate the third phase through magnetism. More on that in a future video.

[@Hvacnc]

Does it tell u if the insulation is weak?

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Depending on your reading you could probably figure out you have some issues. The higher the number the better. If you have something with lower numbers it might be an indicator of failing insulation.

[@Hvacnc]

@@TalkingHandsTools thanks. Anything less then 100 mega ohms would be a caution right

[@TalkingHandsTools]

@Hvacnc yes I would start considering other options. I'd have to look it up, but I think anything less than 20 mega ohms would be condemning. Don't hold me to that, though.

[@jhoncadena452]

my tester don't shows the scale, all measure in "ohm" dont apear "M" or "K" scale, some one has the same problem?

[@JeremiahL]

OK, so it looks like you are just testing resistance between the legs to make sure they are consistent. What if you get zero resistance? what does that mean? You're not really getting into pass fail criteria, just taking measurements.

[@TalkingHandsTools]

You bring up a great point. Zero resistance between legs would mean the stator is likely shorted out. If the you measured an OL or Open Line it would indicate a field wire has burned up and is open. If you have zero I would definitely lean toward saying you have a shorted out field winding which unless you send out the motor for repair isn't something you can really work with in the home shop. It all depends on context some things are worth trying to repair others are not thats your call. I have another motor to test here that I'd like to make a video on testing I just need the time to put it all together. Hopefully I helped you out a little.

[@JeremiahL]

@@TalkingHandsTools The reason I brought it up is because Im been racking my brain for the past week trying to figure out why this 3Ph motor is spinning up to full speed and then popping the breaker after about 20 seconds.. This particular motor is around 100 years old, delta wound, and has only 3 lead wires (3 lead motor).. Ive been doing this resistance check test and getting zero resistance. I even bought this meggar thinking that the insulation was starting to leak after spinning up.. Anyway, my troubleshooting was going nowhere, until I saw a diagram of how a Delta wound motor is wired in series-parallel combination config that kind of lets the current bypass a burned out coil. Unless you can check in between the nodes... lol In this case, I think there is a reason they don't make like that anymore... lol Anyway, sending it to the shop tomorrow for diagnosing, and probably re-winding...

[@TalkingHandsTools]

Any update on what the motor shop found? I really enjoy older stuff and love seeing how things evolve over time. I don't recall seeing a three lead motor thats a really interesting one.

[@JeremiahL]

@@TalkingHandsTools they were pretty busy. Im guessing it could be a few days. I’ll report back when I learn something new. I think I may ask him If I can watch them rewind it. I considered doing it myself, but then my ocd meds kicked in and I came to my senses…. Lol