Protecting HVAC Systems from Bearing Damage

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning are critical to comfort and health in colleges, office buildings, and hospitals. AEGIS® Shaft Grounding Rings ensure the long-term reliability of the VFD-driven motors that keep HVAC systems running.

VFDs reduce energy consumption by allowing motors to run at less than full speed. When used to control air conditioning, air handling, or pump motors, VFDs can yield energy savings of 20 ~ 30% or more.

But VFDs can also damage the motors they control.

They induce voltage on motor shafts that can discharge through the bearings, causing pitting, fluting, and eventual failure. Without bearing protection, any savings from the use of VFDs can be quickly wiped out by the cost of replacing motors and by system downtime. To make HVAC systems sustainable as well as energy-efficient, a reliable method of bearing protection is required.

AEGIS® Rings are widely installed on HVAC motors to prevent bearing damage caused by shaft voltage discharge. See how maintenance departments, motor repair shops, and operations managers solved their bearing troubles in these facilities:

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University

University Improves Sustainability of HVAC Motors in Platinum LEED Building

A new preventive maintenance program at a leading New England Ivy League university demonstrates how the push for more sustainable “green” building management has led to a growing awareness of a chronic, widespread problem with HVAC motors — electrical bearing damage and failure.

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Hospital

Northwest Community Hospital Stops Pitting and Fluting

NHigh peak-to-peak readings from the motor shaft indicated that currents were building up on the shaft and discharging through the motor’s bearings, causing EDM pitting and possibility of bearing race fluting.

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Laboratory and Cleanroom

Purdue Nanotechnology Labs Employ Advanced Grounding Device to Ensure a Constant Flow of Clean Air

The building’s HVAC system must be fast, forceful, and flawless. Such high performance is attained by carefully selected air-handling equipment that includes a new grounding device to extend motor life.

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Office

Making Motors Sustainable at Time & Life Building

A preventative maintenance plan that reduces the total life-cycle cost of operations in a prominent building at the heart of New York City identified a chronic, widespread problem with HVAC motors – electrical bearing damage.

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Data Center

To match cooling output to cooling load, data center designers often specify that motors used in HVAC systems be controlled by VFDs. But VFDs have a drawback. They induce voltage on the shafts of the motors they control. This shaft voltage discharges through the bearings, leading to premature failure.

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