The U.S. motor industry has worked on a standardized basis for more than three-quarters of a century.

The standardization agency National Electrical anufacturers !ssociation "NE !# was established in $%&' () to *romote the standardization of electrical a**aratus and su**lies.+ !s a result of this grou*,s efforts- you can e.*ect (standard+ motors from different manufacturers to meet or e.ceed minimum *erformance *arameters and- for the most *art- be about the same size. ! critical *art of making motors interchangeable is ensuring that name*late information is common among manufacturers. The common language of the motor name*late enables installation and maintenance *ersonnel to quickly understand and recognize e.actly what ty*e of motor they,re dealing with during a new installation or re*lacement *rocedure.

The NE/ states that the motor name*late must show the following information0 1ated 2oltage or 2oltages 1ated full-load am*s for each 2oltage le2el 3requency 4hase 1ated full-load s*eed 5nsulation class and rated ambient tem*erature 1ated horse*ower Time rating 6ocked-rotor code letter anufacturer,s name and address 5n addition to this required information- motor name*lates may also include data like frame sizeNE ! design letter- ser2ice factor- full-load efficiency- and *ower factor. 3inally- some name*lates may e2en include data like bearing identification numbers- certification code- manufacturer serial number- and symbols and logos. Basic nameplate data. 5n order to fully understand the details *resented on motor name*lates we,ll e.amine each of these items more closely and e.*lain its im*ortance. Rated voltage otors are designed to yield o*timal *erformance when o*erating at a s*ecific 2oltage le2el- or a combination of 2oltage le2els in the case of dual-2oltage or tri-2oltage motors. This 2alue is known as the name*late 2oltage. 5n recognition of the fact that 2oltage changes on your *ower distribution system occur due to changing load conditions within your facility and on the utility su**ly that feeds your facility- motors are designed with a $78 tolerance for 2oltage abo2e and below the rated name*late 2alue. Thus- a motor with a rated name*late 2oltage of 9'7: should be e.*ected to o*erate successfully between 9$9: and ;7':. Rated full-load amperage !s the torque load on a motor increases- the am*erage required to *ower the motor also increases. <hen the full-load torque and horse*ower is reached- the corres*onding am*erage is known as the full-load am*erage "36!#. This 2alue is determined by laboratory tests= the 2alue is usually rounded u* slightly and recorded as the name*late 2alue. 1ounding u* allows for manufacturing 2ariations that can occur and some normal 2oltage 2ariations that might increase the full-load am*s of the motor. The name*late 36! is used to select the correct wire size- motor starter- and o2erload *rotection de2ices necessary to ser2e and *rotect the motor.

Frequency To o*erate successfully- the motor frequency must match the *ower system "su**ly# frequency. 5n North !merica- this frequency is '7 >z "cycles#. 5n other *arts of the world- the frequency may be ;7 or '7 >z. Phase This conce*t is fairly sim*le in the United States. ?ou either ha2e a single-*hase or @*hase motor. Rated full-load speed This is the motor,s a**ro.imate s*eed under full-load conditions- when 2oltage and frequency are at the rated 2alues. ! somewhat lower 2alue than the actual laboratory test result figures is usually stam*ed on the name*late because this 2alue can change slightly due to factors like manufacturing tolerances- motor tem*erature- and 2oltage 2ariations. An standard induction motors- the full-load s*eed is ty*ically %'8 to %%8 of the no-load s*eed. Insulation class and rated ambient temperature ! critical element in motor life is the ma.imum tem*erature that occurs at the hottest s*ot in the motor. The tem*erature that occurs at that s*ot is a combination of motor design "tem*erature rise# and the ambient "surrounding# tem*erature. The standard way of indicating these com*onents is by showing the allowable ma.imum ambient tem*erature- usually 97B/ "$79B3#- and the class of insulation used in the design of the motor. !2ailable classes are C- 3- and >. Rated horsepower >orse*ower is the measure of how much work a motor can be e.*ected to do. This 2alue is based on the motor,s full-load torque and full-load s*eed ratings and is calculated as follows0 >orse*ower "h*#DE otor S*eedFTorque "lb-ft#GH;-&;7 The standardized NE ! table of motor horse*ower ratings runs from $ h* to 9;7 h*. 5f a load,s actual horse*ower requirement falls between two standard horse*ower ratings- you should generally select the larger size motor for your a**lication. Time rating Standard motors are rated for continuous duty "&9IJ# at their rated load and ma.imum ambient tem*erature. S*ecialized motors can be designed for (short-time+ requirements where intermittent duty is all that,s needed. These motors can carry a short-time rating from ; minutes to '7 minutes. The NE ! definition for short-time motors is as follows0 (!ll short-time ratings are based u*on corres*onding short-time load tests- which shall commence only when the windings and other *arts of the motor are within ;B/ of the ambient tem*erature at the time of the test.+ Cy using shorttime ratings- it,s *ossible to reduce the size- weight- and cost of the motor required for certain a**lications. 3or e.am*le- you may choose to install an induction motor with a $;-minute rating to *ower a *re-o*eration oil *um* used to *re-lube a gas turbine unit because it would be unusual for this ty*e of motor to be o*erated for more than $; minutes at a time. Locked-rotor code letter <hen !/ motors are started with full 2oltage a**lied- they create an inrush current that,s usually many times greater than the 2alue of the full-load current. The 2alue of this high current can be im*ortant on some installations because it can cause a 2oltage di* that might affect other equi*ment. There are two ways to find the 2alue of this current0 6ook it u* in the motor *erformance data sheets as *ro2ided by the manufacturer. 5t will be noted as the locked-rotor current. Use the locked-rotor code letter that defines an inrush current a motor requires when starting it. anufacturer!s name and address motor name*late. ost manufacturers include their name and address on the

Optional nameplate data. 5n addition to the required items noted abo2e- more information is ty*ically included on a motor name*late. Frame si"e Under the NE ! system- most motor dimensions are standardized and categorized by a frame size number and letter designation. 5n fractional horse*ower motors the frame sizes are

two digits and re*resent the shaft height of the motor from the bottom of the base in si.teenths of an inch. 3or e.am*le- a ;'-frame motor would ha2e a shaft height "(K+ dimension# of ;'I$' of an inchor @.; inches. An larger @-digit frame size motors- $9@T through 99%T- a slightly different system is used where the first two digits re*resent the shaft height in quarters of an inch. 3or e.am*le- a @&'T frame would ha2e a (K+ dimension of @& one-quarter inches- or L inches. !lthough no direct inch measurement relates to it- the third digit of three-digit frame sizes- in this case a '- is an indication of the motor body,s length. The longer the motor body- the longer the distance between mounting bolt holes in the base "i.e. greater (3+ dimension#. 3or e.am*le- a $9;T frame has a larger 3 dimension than does a $9@T frame. <hen working with metric motors "5E/ ty*e#- the conce*t is the same as noted abo2e with one e.ce*tion the shaft height abo2e the base is now noted in millimeters rather than inches. The frame size is the shaft height in millimeters. #$ % design letter /ertain ty*es of machinery may require motors with s*ecialized *erformance characteristics. 3or e.am*le- cranes and hoists that ha2e to start with full loads im*osed may require motors with o*erating characteristics much different from what is required for *um*s and blowers. otor *erformance characteristics can be altered by design changes in lamination- winding- rotor- or any combination of these three items. ost standard motors for general-*ur*ose a**lications meet or e.ceed the 2alues s*ecified for Kesign C motors in NE ! M-$- Standard for otors and Menerators. Kesign ! motors are sometimes used on a**lications that require high breakdown "*ull-out# torque- such as inNection molding machines. Kesign / motors are selected for a**lications that require high starting "lockedrotor# torque- such as inclined con2eyors. Kesign K motors- also called (high sli*+ motors- are sometimes used to *ower hoists and cycling loads- such as oil well *um* Nacks and low-s*eed *unch *resses.

<b>Fig. 1.</b> These graphs show typical torque-speed cur es !or "esign #$ B$ %$ and " motors.

Fig. 1 shows the general sha*e of torque-s*eed cur2es for motors with NE ! Kesign !- C- /- and K characteristics.

Cear in mind that the cur2es shown in 3ig. $ and the figure in the sidebar on *age &9 are general sha*es. 5n real motors- each motor would ha2e its own distinct 2alues different from the *ercentages reflected in these figures. &ervice factor Ser2ice factor "S3# is an indication of how much o2erload a motor can withstand when o*erating normally within the correct 2oltage tolerances. 3or e.am*le- the standard S3 for o*en dri*-*roof "AK4# motors is $.$;. This means that a $7-h* motor with a $.$; S3 could *ro2ide $$.; h* when required for short-term use. Some fractional horse*ower motors ha2e higher ser2ice factors- such as $.&;- $.@;- and e2en $.;7. 5n general- it,s not a good *ractice to size motors to o*erate continuously abo2e rated load in the ser2ice factor area. otors may not *ro2ide adequate starting and *ull-out torques- and incorrect starterIo2erload sizing is *ossible. Traditionally- totally enclosed fan cooled "TE3/# motors had an S3 of $.7- but most manufacturers now offer TE3/ motors with ser2ice factors of $.$;- the same as on AK4 motors. ost hazardous location motors are made with an S3 of $.7- but some s*ecialized units are a2ailable for /lass 5 a**lications with a ser2ice factor of $.$;. Full-load efficiency !s energy costs ha2e increased- conser2ation efforts ha2e become more im*ortant to commercial and industrial o*erations. !s a result- it,s become im*ortant to ha2e full-load efficiency information readily a2ailable on motor name*lates. The efficiency is gi2en as a *ercentage and indicates how well the motor con2erts electrical *ower into mechanical *ower. The closer this 2alue is to $778- the lower the electricity consum*tion cost is going to be. Menerally- larger motors will be more efficient than smaller motors. Today,s *remium efficiency @*hase motors ha2e efficiencies ranging from L'.;8 at $ h* to %;.L8 at @77 h*. The efficiency 2alue that a**ears on the name*late is the nominal full-load efficiency as determined using a 2ery accurate dynamometer and a *rocedure described by 5EEE Standard $$&- ethod C. The nominal 2alue is what the a2erage would be if a substantial number of identical motors were tested and the a2erage of the batch were determined. Some motors might ha2e a higher 2alue and others might be lower- but the a2erage of all units tested is shown as the nominal name*late 2alue. Muaranteed minimum is another efficiency that,s sometimes noted on a name*late. This 2alue is determined from a mathematical relationshi* that assumes that the worst efficiency of any motor in the batch used to determine the a2erage "nominal# 2alue could ha2e losses as much as &78 higher than the a2erage. !s a result- each nominal efficiency 2alue would ha2e a corres*onding minimum efficiency 2alue. ?ou can 2iew these 2alues in Table $&-L in NE ! M-$. Power factor 4ower factor is the ratio of motor load watts di2ided by 2olt-am*s at the full-load condition. 4ower factor for a motor changes with its load. 4ower factor is minimum at no load and increases as additional load is a**lied to the motor. 4ower factor usually reaches a *eak at or near full load on the motor. Final spin. /hanging motors out becomes a lot easier when you can quickly recognize the key items that describe a motor,s size- s*eed- 2oltage- *hysical dimensions- and *erformance characteristics. !ll of this information and more is usually a2ailable on the motor,s name*late. 5t,s your res*onsibility to be able to correctly inter*ret the information on this name*late- correctly a**ly it in the field- and 2erify conformance to NE !- 5E/- or other industry standards.