The 7 Most Common Servo Motor Faults

Servo Motor Faults, Errors and Troubleshooting

In this blog, our expert engineering team share the servo motor faults they most often see and repair in the Kontrolmek workshops.

1. Servo Motor Overheating

Out of all servo motor faults, overheating is one of the most common. It can be caused by an overcurrent on the machine. You or your maintenance engineer should look at the mechanical binding, any brake issues or check for any signs of overloading occurrence. Those are your possible mechanical issues.

If it isn’t a mechanical issue, inspect the shaft of the motor and spin it to check for any bearing failures. You can also check the windings for any issues, such as contamination or for any signs of short circuiting.

To prevent servo motor overheating in future, you can:

• Regulate the heat better
• Use fans correctly and open, airy cabinets
• Replace old, worn components
• Turn the servo motor off occasionally to allow cooling down

If something has gone wrong and you can’t find/fix the servo motor issue, get in touch. We can carry out servicing, testing, standard repairs and emergency repairs.

2. Bearing Failure

If your servo motor is slightly older and not as frequently maintained as it should be, the issue could be with the bearing. It’s very common for worn, older or unlubricated bearing. The servo motor will likely be making a nose/whine if it is an issue with the bearing.

You can change the settings and parameters of the servo motor, which may resolve the issue. But, if that doesn’t work and the bearing issue is too far gone, you will likely need to replace it.

Do it sooner rather than later, as the faulty bearing could lead to a total motor failure. And then you’ll need a completely new servo motor.

Get in touch with us for a free collection, inspection and quote.

3. Dust/Contamination

We don’t have to tell you that factories and plants are dirty places. So, it should be no surprise that contamination — dust, oil, etc. — can get into your servo motor and cause a fault. The contamination may affect the brakes, bearing or elsewhere.

Expect friction, which would cause underperformance and a lot of grinding. You may notice a screeching noise, so listen out for that. To solve this, you could disassemble the servo motor, clean and reassemble.

If you don’t have the facilities to carry this out, you can send it to one of our workshops and have the servo motor repaired and overhauled.

4. Setup Issue or Loss of Parameters

Your servo motor may be suffering positioning errors through a setup issue or loss of parameters. To check, you can go through the usual setup procedures of both the motor and the connected drive. If something doesn’t flare up, there may be a feedback issue with the motor that requires repair.

Get in touch and we can do this for you.

5. Electrical Issue

Motors are mainly mechanical, but issues can easily occur with one of the electrical parts connected to the motor. You may think it’s the motor but the issue could have been with the drive, PLC or something else, for example.

Our sister company, Kontroltek, can repair any industrial electronic issues for you. Get in touch with us and we’ll refer you, so you get a good price.

6. Overloading Issue

The servo motor circuit could overheat — the same as a mechanical binding or brakes. This would occur in the circuit if there was an overloading issue. It’s important that you repair this issue as soon as possible, which you can do with us.

7. Winding Issue

Whether it’s from overheating, electrical shorting, contamination or whatever else, they could lead to/be caused by winding issues. If this is the case, you may need to have your servo motor rewound.

At Kontrolmek, we offer repairs, rewinds and refurbishments for servo motors. If the motor is beyond repair, we source replacements for good prices.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong with servo motors. They’re kept in dirty, dangerous places, where temperatures can sometimes fluctuate and leaks may occur.

It’s important to maintain your servo motor as well as possible. But if there isn’t something you can handle, Kontrolmek engineers will be able to repair it.

Lewys Gammond Phillips

Lewys Gammond Phillips

Marketing Officer, Kontrolmek Ltd

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