No piece of equipment is without its problems. Mechanical equipment can suffer from both serious and trivial issues. Among the faults that can affect a generator are three basic ones. If they are not addressed appropriately and immediately, the only correct solution left may not only generator rotor removal and repair, but possible replacement. In some situations, this may be the only way to tackle the problems effectively.
Three Generator Faults
It is possible to consider and analyze generator faults under three categories or types. These are:
1. Stator Winding Faults: These are some of the most serious faults possible. They can cause substantial and costly damage to the equipment. They tend to be the fault of insulation malfunction of the stator coils. Stator winding faults generally fall into the following three categories:
- Phase-to-earth faults
- Phase-to-phase faults
- Inter-turn faults
2. Rotor Circuit Faults: These tend to fall into one of two categories:
- Earth faults
- Inter-turn faults
The end result of either fault is overheating and potential damage to the rotor. This can result in generator rotor removal to discover the exact problem and/or repair it.
3. Abnormal Operating Conditions: According to experts in this field, abnormal operating conditions are likely to occur accordingly:
- Failure of the turbine resulting in a synchronous motor
- Field Failure
- Unbalanced or overloading
- Over-voltage – generator terminals
- Over-speed
- Failure of the ventilation system
- Current leakage in the generator’s body
All these faults can cause an undetermined amount of damage to the generator and related equipment.
Generator Rotor Removal
Generators are like many other mechanical devices. They can suffer from minor and major issues. Within this area, three major faults can result in generator rotor removal tool. It is important to recognize the existence of these issues and take appropriate measures to correct them.