Message Board Thread - "400hp motor producing heat through conduit"

Title	By	Posted On
400hp motor producing heat through conduit	highgear	7/10/2009
A customer is having trouble with electronics failing in a control cabinet. They feel it's from excessive heat coming from the conduit going to a 400hp motor. The cabinet does have air conditioning and it is working. My question is, what would be a good way to block this heat coming from the motor? Stuff it with insulation? Thanks for any replies. - Wade
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	manuel-thermoimagen	7/10/2009
Hi Highgear.. personally i had seen lot of control cabinets with temps higher than you had measure in this image. i guess, this temperature is not that high that can put your electronics to fail. most of the electronic equipment supports easily 50 C ambient operation. Convective air fan can help the cabinet to disipate the heat coming out from the conduit. sometimes energy quality interferes to sensitive electronics devices like: harmonics, sags, swells, grounds, etc.
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	WaterDamageCleanup	7/10/2009
manuel-thermoimagen wrote: gear.. personally i had seen lot of control cabinets with temps higher than you had measure in this image. i guess, this temperature is not that high that can put your electronics to fail. most of the electronic equipment supports easily 50 C ambient operation. Convective air fan can help the cabinet to disipate the heat coming out from the conduit. sometimes energy quality interferes to sensitive electronics devices like: harmonics, sags, swells, grounds, etc. maybe you can install a exhaust vent http://www.waterdamageusa.info http://www.damagemedic.com http://www.rightwaycontracting.com
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	Laland	7/11/2009
What is the distance between the control cabinet and the motor?
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	Bob Berry	7/13/2009
If you want to prevent convective heat (hot air) coming from the conduit, then you must create a positive air pressure (relitave to the motor). If however it is conductive heat transfer, then it will be a bigger fix required. You will have to replace the conduit with a less conductive one (plastic), or create a thermal break in the conduit, by breaking it through a thermally insulating box. Remember though that if you do this you will not have good continuity for your ground/earth, so I would suggest an additional conductor for this. I would be surpirsed if this was the cause of the problem though, and to be honest I dont believe reducing the temperature is the solution. Has the customer checked the voltage, current, harmonics, etc, etc?
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	highgear	7/13/2009
Laland wrote: the distance between the control cabinet and the motor? Distance of conduit is about 3 to 4 feet.
Re:400hp motor producing heat through conduit	wilkens.st	8/11/2009
No problem, been there. Use electricians putty to seal around all the cables coming into the cabinet through the conduit. This should be done with the power off of course. Electrical components are almost always rated at 40c so any value above that will cause a shortened life by 50% as well as possible nuisance trips related to heat. The putty is very cheap insurance. After that verify the panel cooler is actually keeping the components below 40c.