Aaki and QEMR: Innovating Solutions for Vertical Hollow Shaft Motor Protection

Quality Electric Motor Rebuilders (QEMR), based in Barrie Ontario, Canada, has been providing motor expertise and quality repairs to industry both locally and throughout North America. But something in the air was changing, and it was costing his loyal customers thousands of dollars in unexpected repair bills and lost time. The industry had welcomed this new technology with open arms, but there was a dark side…  

Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) had entered the scene.  These miniature feats of electronics and engineering were saving customers a ton of money through reduced energy costs and more efficient use of equipment, but at a cost.  VFDs have a bad habit of creating motor shaft voltages with the result that motors were experiencing much shorter bearing life. 

There were two solutions:   

Isolate the bearing from the shaft through the use of ceramic bearings or coatings. This was expensive.  Ceramic bearings were special order and cost as much as 10X that of regular bearings.  Lead times were a nightmare and could take the motor out of commission for months. 

Protect the motor with shaft grounding devices.  This had its own challenges.  Grounding rings were mounted on the output shaft of the motor.  This area is prone to grease buildup and is not accessible for inspection.  The rings were expensive and needed to be special ordered to fit the motor shaft. 

There had to be a better way… 

Since 2021, Aaki Corp has been working closely with Quality Electric Motor Rebuilders (QEMR) in the development and field testing of an innovative method for mounting Aaki Motor Shaft Grounding Modules to vertical hollow shaft motors without the need to drill holes! 

QEMR’s motor repair expertise and years of experience with these motors, coupled with Aaki’s engineering insight and quality motor shaft grounding module product line, has led to the introduction of the VerTmount™ Grounding Bracket Kit. This unique and patent-pending product takes out the effort and guesswork when mounting the Aaki Motor Shaft Grounding Modules on vertical hollow shaft motors. Its design focuses on reducing installations on these motors by as much as 90% from hours to minutes, giving back repair shops valuable hours and adding significant margin to their bottom line. The proprietary system can reduce the costs associated with this type of modification by hundreds of dollars, saving the end customer significant downtime and costs. 

Click on the link below for further information on the VerTmount™ Grounding Bracket Kit: 
https://aaki.ca/product/vertical-motor-shaft-mounting-bracket/

For further information on Quality Electric Motor Rebuilders (QEMR) and the services they provide, click on the following link: https://www.qemr.ca/