Why does your 2hp electric motor get hot?

Answer 1

The load of the motor itself is constant and it will try to achieve it's running RPM. If the supply voltage decreases the amperage needed increases to where the motor windings cannot sustain the current flow without producing excessive heat. Hence, SMOKE!

Answer 2

The heating effect of an alternating current (ac) over a period of time depends on the average of the squares of the instantaneous values of current over that same period of time, so use of ac in any motor causes heat to be generated in its windings.

Apart from the very simple ones used inside small electric clocks, most single phase and three-phase motors must have ventilation systems built into them to keep them as cool as possible under normal operating conditions. Such systems range from a simple fan - mounted on the rotor shaft to blow the hot air away through ducts in the motor housing - to much more complicated cooling systems involving coolant fluids and external heat exchangers, similar to the radiators used with vehicle engines.

Answer 3

All motors get hot. If yours is getting hotter than normal, it might be overloaded, a winding might be shorted, the start/run switch (if there is one) might not be working, a capacitor might be bad, or you might be running it on the wrong voltage or frequency.

Answer 4

Single phase implies an AC motor. There are different parts of a motor, and thus different parts may have burned out. Different causes for different parts - sometimes parts fail due to age, such as start and run capacitors. The rotor may be locked up, so no load is placed on it, but it cannot spin (so in actuality a whole lot of load is put on it), so the rotor burns up. Another cause could be too high of voltage applied to the motor, or too low voltage.

Answer 5

No, both of those motors should deliver 1 HP of mechanical power while staying within their temperature rating.