Comtest is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the sole southern African distributorship for the ALL-TEST Pro range of test instruments for field testing of electrical motors, generators and transformers. As part of the countrywide launch, Richard Scott, the national sales manager for ALL-TEST Pro, visited South Africa in May. He conducted training on the range of products for Comtest’s network of value-added resellers, dealers and sales people. In addition, three end-users attended product and application training.

Scott explains why companies should implement troubleshooting and commissioning testing of electric motors: “Electric motors experience both mechanical and electrical failures. Nearly 47% of failures in AC induction motors are electrical. Less than 20% of these electrical faults begin as an insulation to ground fault – instead they start as an inner turn or coil fault, which cannot be detected with an insulation to ground tester. Therefore you need something different that allows the user to detect these electrical winding faults well before the motor actually fails.

“ALL-TEST Pro has two offline test instruments to detect these faults before failure. Additionally, we have online testing equipment for performing Electrical Signature Analysis that allows the electrician to look at the system from incoming power through to the motor, through the driven load, to detect both electrical and mechanical faults with only 60 seconds worth of test data. With offline testing, many facilities can achieve an immediate financial payback just by using the equipment for incoming inspection and troubleshooting.”

According to Scott, there are three aspects to commissioning testing.

• Sometimes new motors fail on startup and the labour time and production loss owing to the unexpected failure can be prevented by testing the motor prior to installation.
• One should test a motor prior to sending it out to be rewound and then test it again when it returns to make sure that the repair facility repaired the motor correctly.
• When it comes to troubleshooting, a motor system is very complex as it includes a distribution transformer, the control system, the motor itself and then the driven load. To try to troubleshoot this complex system with just a MegOhm meter or multimeter is not enough. An offline motor testing instrument can be used from the motor control centre and within a few minutes you will be able to tell the user whether the motor, the cable and connection is good or bad. This all by itself will speed up the process for getting the motor system back up and running quickly and efficiently.

ALL-TEST Pro has two offline instruments that perform Motor Circuit Analysis (MCA). The ALL-TEST PRO 31 is a troubleshooting tool, while the ALL-TEST IV PRO 2000 is used for troubleshooting and also for condition-based monitoring. For online testing, there is the ALL-TEST PRO OL II, for Electrical Signature Analysis (ESA).

Commenting on the South African market, Scott says, “Acceptance of specialised motor testing equipment is becoming more widespread. We are the low-cost provider for this type of equipment and are very excited to have a well respected company like Comtest as a new distributor for our products.”

The test equipment has a diverse range of end-users in industries such as municipal, mining, food processing, high-tech manufacturing and wood products. It is aimed at people who need to field test electrical motors, transformers and generators – the entire range is hand-held, portable and battery-operated.

Comtest business development manager Ravi Lachman explains how the ALL-TEST Pro range fits in with existing Comtest products. “This is a complementary range for Comtest. We have a thermography range that can be used to establish a heat-related problem, temperature being the first sign of a problem. Then we need to drill down to the actual cause of the heat within the motor, which is where the ALL-TEST Pro range comes into play.”

He adds that for companies with a predictive maintenance programme already in place, using this equipment is just another addition to their programme. However, companies who don’t yet have a predictive maintenance programme in place can easily justify the cost of the equipment because of the money and time it will save. In addition, the software that comes with the test equipment will allow them to document and start building up a history of their motors, which can be used in a predictive maintenance programme in the future.

ALL-TEST Pro is a privately held company based in Connecticut in the United States that manufactures portable motor testing equipment. The company has been in business since 1983 and sold over 10 000 instruments worldwide.