Urgent repairs to an Eddy Current rotor in the East Midlands
Our latest challenge was to repair a 1000mm wide Eddy Current as a matter of urgency. The 14 pole rare earth magnet rotor had been damaged when glue on the magnets failed causing one to dislodge and completely destroy a fiberglass tube.
When the rotor arrived at our workshop we completely stripped it down. We noticed significant wear to the bearing surfaces on the shaft and the bearings were worn out. This would have caused serious vibration resulting in the magnets working loose and breaking away from the rotor shaft.
To repair the rotor we welded up the shaft and remachined it back. It was then transferred to our magnet depot where our specialist team replaced the loose magnet, filled the shaft and rubbed it back until perfectly cylindrical. The rotor was then carefully wrapped in Kevlar (a strong and heat-resistant synthetic fibre) and resin to provide two layers of protection and to firmly hold the remaining magnets in place. Lastly, we fitted a new fiberglass tube and bearings to the outer drum and carefully reassembled the rotor.
We transported the rotor back to site for our customer in Loughborough and refitted to the Eddy Current. We checked all tolerances and made sure everything was running smoothly before we left.