Oil in 100 Hp Drive Motor

disassemble the motor and clean it

If its got in the windings, have it rewound.

It will fail totally if you don't.

If as you say it ALREADY started to arc, it has ALREADY failed, the collateral damage from attempting to run it after "cleaning" it can only get worse from here on out. If you waste money trying to clean it, then the arcing happens anyway (it will) and damages the stator or rotor steel, it gets REALLY expensive to fix. If you have it re-wound now, the cost will be as low as possible.

Then find a better place to store your oil, or your motors.

if I were in charge of spending someone else's money I'd just call for replacement too. if the motor was mine I'd want to open it up , inspect and clean. your point is well taken, its the safe play.

It's knackered, so why haven't you changed it?

We have cleaned out the oil we are going to test this now I will let the Fourm know the results

please do

This could get interesting.

Hope springs eternal……………

OP, when you start the motor up could you film it and put it on U-Tube.

Get one of these TEFC motors. They're oil proof.

Baldor Motor Cem4400t, 1...$8,420.00
Although Baldor products are very good in my book, this is not necessarily an endorsement.

A little Arc ing is OK in my experience. As far as cleaning it. It depends on what it does and a few other factors. And how important what it does is to you. And if you have some kind of backup if it is something you can not operate without. However. I have seen a lot of things ARC and they can be just fine. Be careful what you clean it with. It can not be something that will strip the coating off of the windings. Also I do not see how oil will cause Arcing unless this is extremely high voltage. For the Most part oil is a die electric. Most oils are. Some are Acidic and others will like Gasoline strip and or dissolve certain seals etc... But for the most part if you cleaned it up I bet it will be as if nothing happened. But I do not have all the data. Motors of that size are well made in most cases and some arching happens when bugs and all kinds of stuff gets sucked into them. I have seen sawdust and bugs and wood chips and water and almost anything you can think of get into motors. In a saw mill it is not like we can keep the motor from a practical stand point in another room. Same in a plastic extrusion factory i have. Without all the data i still think you are going to be fine. Just make sure there is a fire extinguisher and a way to turn the power off that is far from the motor. You do not want to have to use water to cool a fire should it happen if the switch is right there. Have a good day and enjoy your newly washed and oiled motor. Oh yea Keep a Camera on it for a few days if you can and I would add a good smoke detector. The thing will most likely smoke like I do for a hour or two under load and at that time is a higher chance of a fire. But it can surive if you do not put too hard of a load on it and maybe keep a hi volume fan on the thing as well for a while to help cool it. I really think you will be fine. Is all perfect. No. But it does not have to be. Jim Davison

If it started to arc there will be traces of carbon left and carbon is a very good conductor of electricity. Use your imagination!!!!!!! Dismantle, clean with solvent, inspect for insulation damage, test with a 5000 V megger and stand well back. Although my guess is the insulation is probably damaged in the grooves and is not visible; a rewind may be prudent.

What type of insulation the stator and rotor winding have? If it is totally impregnated class F epoxy insulation then you need not worry about the oil ingress. Simply withdraw the rotor wipe clean the overhang and other exposed surfaces. Blow hot air through the ventilation duct to clear air passage. Similarly the rotor also be cleaned at approachable surface and blow hot air. If it is old non-epoxy insulation then you have to think about rewinding it.

We used ZEP brake wash and no conductive electrical cleaner, replaced the brushes and let it dry.

We then started it up and it is not arcing now we will be running it today and we are hoping that it still in good condition.

When we check the operating amps and voltage over the 3 phases it looks correct.

Thanks to the Forum's suggestions, like always your opinions and suggestions are appreciated.

I don't believe this, only now we find out the motor has brushgear.

Perhaps in addition to a good answer slot we should have a bad question nomination.

told you not to replace it