What Are the Causes of Stepper Motor Burnout in Linear Modules?

Stepper motors are widely used in our common linear modules, but motor burnout occurs from time to time. Let’s take a look at the main causes below.

• Motor Dampness: Water ingress or moisture leads to reduced insulation performance, which is a common cause of damage. Daily protection must be ensured, and insulation performance should be tested regularly. Special caution is required for motors driven by frequency converters, otherwise the frequency converter may be damaged together with the motor.

  
  

• Internal Motor Failures: Bearing damage causes end cover wear, spindle wear and rotor rubbing against the stator, resulting in winding damage and burnout – this is another major cause.

  
  

• Other External Factors: Overly low or high voltage; loose terminals caused by vibration leading to inter-phase short circuits; damage from insects and rodents; mismatch between the motor’s rated voltage and actual operating voltage; failures of voltage reduction starting circuits that prevent mode switching, causing the stepper motor to operate under low voltage for a long time, etc.

• Overload: Burnout generally does not occur if the protection system functions properly (with appropriately installed thermal relays). However, it should be noted that thermal relays cannot be calibrated, their protection values are not highly accurate, and improper model selection combined with manual automatic reset settings often render the protection ineffective. In some cases, the protection value is manually increased after repeated protection triggers without identifying the root cause, resulting in complete failure of the protection mechanism.

  
  

• Phase-loss Operation: The sliding table module motor will produce loud noise and severe overheating under phase-loss operation, which is a fatal defect for three-phase asynchronous motors. The motor will usually burn out within just ten minutes of operation. A phase-loss fault in the entire power supply system may damage multiple motors simultaneously. It is recommended to install electronic phase-loss protectors for single motors (essential for critical motors). In addition, blown fuses in any phase of the three-phase circuit will also cause phase-loss operation.

Dongguan Jiayi Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd., located in Dongguan – the "Manufacturing Capital" of China, is a national high-tech enterprise integrating R&D and design, production and manufacturing, sales and service. The company has a complete production process and management system, and all products possess fully independent intellectual property rights. Equipped with large-scale processing equipment and testing instruments, we ensure qualified product delivery to safeguard the stable operation of your equipment.

We specialize in a full range of products including linear modules, linear motors, DD motors, variable-pitch modules, electric slides, multi-axis precision platforms and customized platform solutions, as well as module accessories such as ball screws and linear guides. We can also customize non-standard equipment modules and mechanical machinery according to customer requirements.