Electric motors are the workhorses of industry. From pumping stations and processing plants to manufacturing lines and HVAC systems, they quietly power critical operations every day. But when a motor fails, the impact is anything but quiet. Unplanned downtime, production losses, emergency callouts and costly replacements can quickly escalate , especially if failure happens in […]
In today’s industrial environments, variable speed drives are not simply components in a panel, they are business-critical assets. From pumping applications and manufacturing lines to process plants and utilities, drives control performance, efficiency and uptime. Yet many organisations don’t know the true condition, or lifecycle status, of their installed drive base. That’s where an ABB […]
Electric motors in water and wastewater pumping stations operate under continuous duty, variable loads, and challenging environmental conditions. As a result, certain failures occur repeatedly across the sector. The most common motor failures include: Bearing Failure Often caused by poor alignment, imbalance, or lubrication breakdown. In VSD-driven applications, electrical fluting can also accelerate bearing damage […]
Under AMP8, water companies face increased pressure to demonstrate asset resilience, energy efficiency, and risk-based investment decisions. One of the most effective tools to support this is a structured ABB drive life-cycle assessment. ABB defines clear life-cycle phases for its drives: Active, Classic, Limited, and Obsolete. Many water assets installed during earlier AMP periods are […]
APDS recently supported a planned shutdown at Holcim UK, completing a major rotor change on a Brown Lennox hammer mill crusher – safely, efficiently, and right on schedule. Thanks to strong planning and collaboration between departments, the job started on time and, with support from the night shift, was completed in full readiness for production […]
When an electric motor comes back online after a repair or service, most people focus on one thing: is it running? But at APDS, we’re focused on something far more important, is it running correctly and efficiently? Two of the biggest contributors to a motor’s long-term performance are on-site balancing and laser alignment. These processes […]
The APDS Motor Services team has successfully completed the replacement of a critical Air Handling Unit (AHU) at a local Hospital. This upgrade provides improved performance, reliability, and long-term efficiency for the site’s HVAC system. The project involved the careful removal of the existing motor, impeller and bed plate, followed by the installation of new, […]
During a recent bearing change on a 355kW Siemens motor, our engineer Jamie Sims uncovered something you don’t see every day – an insulated bearing journal. The bearing itself was already showing early frosting, a classic indicator of circulating current issues and a sign that more serious damage was on the way. With the motor […]
When a plastic manufacturing company in Wiltshire suffered an unexpected breakdown late one evening, production was brought to a standstill. The cause was traced to a short circuit fault on a 250kW mixer drive – a critical piece of equipment needed to keep output moving. Fast Response The call came into APDS that evening, and […]
APDS is proud to offer a powerful new tool in drive reliability – DART, the low-cost remote monitoring system built specifically for ABB drives and their operating environments. When it comes to drive reliability, it’s not just the performance of the variable speed drive (VSD) that matters – it’s also the environment it’s working in. […]
