Industrial electric motors, as a rule, are noted for being

quality products that provide long, trouble-free operation.

This is as true today as it ever was. The difference today is
that, as more AC motors are being applied in adjustable-
speed drive systems, there is a heightened awareness
concerning potential dangers to motor windings. The
danger is voltage spikes caused by the increasingly
popular pulse width modulated (PWM) controls, or
inverters, which use IGBT power transistors. This
heightened awareness often focuses on the motors
insulation, sometimes the magnet wire insulation itself and
sometimes the entire insulation system.
LEESONs approach, through IRIS, or Inverter Rated
Insulation System, is clearly to focus on the total system
and, even more, on the total motor product -- from the
initial engineering concept to the final manufacturing step
and beyond. This includes extensive testing of all
components, separately and in cooperation with
component manufacturers. In addition, all stators are
tested to ensure quality in manufacture, and life testing is
done to guide future development.
The purpose of this article is to explain
the elements of LEESONs systems
approach. Additional information and definitions of
key terms are included in the Appendix at the end of
the article.
IRIS Element No. 1 Spike-Resistant
Magnet Wire
This is the hottest topic today, though as we will see, it is
only one component of the success of IRIS. The differ-
ence between
standard and
spike resistant
wire is in the film
or coating on the
copper wire. By
adding different
inorganic and
organic materials
to the coating, it
can be made to
resist corona breakdown (deterioration due to ozone,
the product of corona discharge). The adjoining charts tell
the story. The dielectric strength and voltage at which coro-
na begins for most wire types used in small and medium
size motors are very similar. Increasing the thickness of the
coating, by adding more layers, increases the dielectric
strength, and of course the thickness of the wire, as you
would expect. BUT, the life of the wire when voltage
exceeds the corona inception voltage is quite different.
Testing shows that coatings specially made to resist break-
down last much longer than simply adding more layers of
standard coatings. This leads to the perception that the sole
solution to creating a spike-resistant motor is to change the
wire. The truth is, its not that simple. Here are some com-
plicating factors:
MEASURING VOLTAGE INSIDE THE MOTOR. While
higher voltage controls, 400-600 volt, can cause high
voltage spikes at the motor terminals, the magnitude and
number of these spikes depends on the drive and the
application. However, voltage that the
magnet wire sees, not voltage at the
Subject: LEESONs IRIS Inverter Rated Insulation System
L E E S O N E L E C T R I C C O R P O R A T I O N
MotorMoments
CONCI SE TECHNI CAL I NSI GHTS FROM LEESON
Leeson 2039 Motor Moments 2/19/01 11:19 AM Page 2
L E E S O N E L E C T R I C C O R P O R A T I O N
terminals, is the critical point. Tests are usually done by
twisting two pieces of wire and applying the high test
voltage from one wire to the other. This situation, of course,
should never occur in a motor, by design. Voltages at the
motor terminals divide among many coils of wire inside the
motor, which then divide (although unevenly) among many
turns in each coil. The goal in design is to ensure that the
voltage between any two wires is below safe levels
considering how they are insulated.
DIFFERENT WIRE FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS.
Not only is the wire different, but manufacturers are
introducing new versions or generations of wire. To
further complicate the issue, there are no standards for
testing or rating wire or any other insulation component for
use on controls. LEESON has been working closely with
wire manufacturers when developing new generation
products to ensure that they work well with other materials
and manufacturing processes. LEESON also performs its
own tests to supplement and verify data from wire
manufacturers.
FIRST TURN FAILURES. There is much discussion about
uneven voltage distribution in the coils and the turn to turn,
or first turn, failure in inverter-fed motors. LEESONs testing
and experience has shown this to be a non-issue on small
and medium sized motors, something that can happen
but almost never does. Even those motor failures originally
thought to be turn to turn, when analyzed, often prove to be
from other causes. On very large motors it is an issue. Here,
nearly all reputable motor manufacturers have ways of
dealing with this problem.
WHY DO SOME MANUFACTURERS CLAIM MAJOR
IMPROVEMENTS WITH THE NEW WIRE TYPES? As the
previous graphs have shown, the advantage of the new
wire is in situations where the wire is subjected to high
spikes from the control. An insulation system, when
properly designed, minimizes exposure of the wire to this
high voltage. Inverter rated wire should extend motor life
when used on a control in a drive system. It should
provide a margin of safety as well. However, it should not
be relied upon as being the only source of protection
against possible voltage spikes. In fact, if changing the wire
alone results in significant life improvements, that could be
an indication of a more serious problem in basic motor
design and manufacturing methods.
IRIS Element No. 2 - Placing Wire in the
Stator Core
Techniques and processes used to insert or wind the wire
into the stator core are more important than the coating
used on the wire. The coating cannot be effective if it is
scratched or nicked. Special attention must be paid not only
to the equipment and processes used in motor
manufacturing but also the trade-offs considered when
developing new wire coatings. A balance must be
achieved when considering corona resistance, flexibility,
and abrasion resistance.
METHODS OF WINDING. Because the voltage is divided
among the turns of wire, it is important that the winding be
orderly and not have wires crossing randomly over each
other. There are several ways to accomplish this using var-
ious types of coil winders and coil inserters, and even hand
winding processes. The trade-off here is wire position ver-
sus wire damage. LEESON has selected quality automatic
coil winders and inserters, built to our specifications, for
smaller motor production. Larger motors are wound by
hand or machine depending on design. In each case care
is taken to ensure the best quality. This includes special
training for production associates involved in winding
inverter-rated motors.
Some have touted the advantages of in slot winders. In
this winding method, the wire runs through needles that
feed the wire directly into the slot through the narrow slot
opening. But the wire must run back and forth the length of
the stator and around fingers on each end for each turn.
Compare this to wire coming smoothly off a spool onto a
form and inserting the finished coils only once. There are
clearly trade-offs. The stated benefit of in-slot winding is the
ability (in theory) to automatically position or lay the wire
in the slot in layers, keeping the beginning and end of the
coil as far apart as possible. In practice, because the wire
is free to move around, coils are not picture perfect. And,
as mentioned, an orderly winding is the goal of any
method.
The point is, there is no clear best way to wind stators in
everyday production. If there was, everyone would use it.
The key to success is to select a proven method, design for
it, and perfect it. The results will speak for themselves.
Leeson 2039 Motor Moments 2/19/01 11:19 AM Page 3
MotorMoments
CONCI SE TECHNI CAL I NSI GHTS FROM LEESON
INSULATION MATERIALS. The best winder cannot make up
for poorly assembled stator cores or slot insulation that is
not suited for the application. LEESON uses a variety of
quality insulation materials (polyester films and laminates
such as DMD, NMN) specifically tailored to the
manufacturing process and insulation class.
IRIS Element No. 2
Insulate All Critical Areas
SLEEVING. It is critical that coil leads be appropriately
sleeved according to their location and the voltage they will
be exposed to. These coil leads may have to run across
coils from other phases where voltage differences are the
highest. Relying only on the wire coating would be a
mistake. In order to adequately protect these leads, it is
often necessary for sleeving to extend from the lead
connection into the stator slot.
PHASE INSULATION. Phase insulation can be the most
difficult part of the entire stator winding process, and of
critical importance. It is the only insulation component
specifically designed to separate coils and wires of
different phases (where the highest voltage differences are
present). In the past this is the area where some
manufacturers have cut corners. Thinner materials (or no
insulation at all) or improperly positioned phase insulation
may go unnoticed on motors intended for low voltage or
strictly utility power. But today, more motors are being used
with controls. While some manufacturers were adding back
phase insulation into motors that didnt have it,
LEESON was busy looking for ways to make our phase
insulation, which was always in place, even better.
CONNECTION INSULATION. There are many ways to
make and insulate the connections between motor leads
and the stator winding or coils. LEESON has and will
continue to look for and try improved methods. But for now,
connections continue to be taped or sleeved to pad and
protect them, providing a high level of electrical and
mechanical strength. Connections poking through
insulation are a common failure point for inverter motors,
but another one you dont have to worry about with
LEESON motors.
IRIS Element No. 4 - Varnish Control
The varnish must penetrate into the slots and between wires
to be effective. In the case of inverter-rated motors, the
varnish replaces the air surrounding and between the wires.
This protects by minimizing the amount of air able to ionize
or become ozone, and by keeping air farther away from
the wire. A thicker varnish appearance on the outside of
coil does not necessarily mean it has penetrated into the
coil. Also, care must be taken to select the right varnish for
the wire type used. Testing has shown that some varnishes
actually reduce the life of inverter-rated wires, or not
improve life as much as other varnishes, even though they
are chemically compatible.
The bottom line is that IRIS represents an insulation
system made up of quality class F and class H components
designed to work together and implemented properly. It is
a system that is inverter-rated in more ways than one.
Control: Also called inverter or
converter, is an electronic device that
converts an input AC or DC power
into a controlled output AC
voltage or current (as defined in
NEMA and IEEE standards).
Corona: A luminous discharge
produced in the neighborhood of a
conductor, without greatly heating it,
due to ionization of the air surround-
ing the conductor caused by a
voltage gradient exceeding a certain
critical value.
Corona inception voltage: The
lowest or beginning voltage at which
continuous corona occurs.
Drive: The equipment used for
converting electrical power into
mechanical power suitable for
operation of a machine. A drive is a
combination of a power converter
(control), motor, and any motor
mounted auxiliary equipment (as
defined in NEMA and IEEE
standards).
dV/dt: Literally delta (change in)
volts divided by delta (change in)
time. It is the slope of or rate of
change of voltage over time of a
voltage pulse or waveform. It is
normally measured in volts per
microsecond (V/ s). A modern IGBT
drive will have a value of 6000 to
9000 V/ s.
(continued on back)
APPENDIX Useful Definitions
Leeson 2039 Motor Moments 2/19/01 11:19 AM Page 4
Explaining the Physics
of the Inverter-Motor Connection
The short version of how an AC PWM variable frequency
control works is as follows. Electronically the control first
takes the line voltage and changes (or rectifies) this AC to
DC voltage. Then, using power devices such as transistors
or SCRs, the control produces a stream of pulses that sim-
ulate the voltage and frequency desired. The figure below
shows a sine wave
(AC) line
voltage, superim-
posed on pulsed
inverter output, or
simulated AC. The
number and width of
the pulses varies or is
modulated (PWM) so
that if you average (or
mean, RMS) the pulses
you would get the
same value as the sine wave. Notice that the pulses are the
same height. This is correct because the DC voltage the
drive uses to make these pulses is nearly constant if the AC
power to the drive is a constant value.
Now look at the figure on the right, representing an
oscilloscope view
of pulses from an
inverter. The
bottom pulses are
those that emerge
directly from the
inverter. They look
very square. The
top pulses, howev-
er, look quite dif-
ferent. They show
what pulses may look like at the motor end of the cable.
The overshoot, or ringing high voltage spikes occur-
ing at the motor end are the source of trouble for
some insulation systems.
The cause of this ringing can be explained in several
ways. It can be thought of as the electrical response of the
circuit consisting of the inductance, resistance and
capacitance of the motor and cable to the pulse. Or it can
be thought of as the interaction of pulses reflected back
from the motor with those coming from the control. Either
way, the result is a peak voltage approximately twice as
high (sometimes higher) as the pulse the control put out in
the first place, with the addition of high frequency ring-
ing besides.
LEESON ELECTRIC CORPORATION
G R A FTO N , W I 53024-0241, U .S.A . http://w w w.LEESO N .com (414) 377-8810 FA X (414) 377-9025
IGBT (isolated gate bipolar
transistor): Power control device
used in modern PWM type
inverters.
Nanosecond (ns): One billionth of
a second.
Ozone: A colorless gas, with a
penetrating odor. A form of oxygen,
O
3
. (This gas will react with certain
organic compounds.)
Peak voltage: The peak instanta-
neous value, normally the maximum
value of voltage. (See graph at left.)
PWM (pulse width modulated): A
control method that varies the pulse
width to produce a desired
waveform.
Rise time: The time interval of the
leading edge between the instants
the value reaches a specified lower
and upper limit. This may be either
from 10% to 90% (normally) of the
peak value, or of the steady state
value. Both definitions are used, thus
causing confusion. NEMA uses the
steady state value. Values of 70-100
ns (nanoseconds) are common for
the latest IGBT controls; values of
200-300 ns are seen on older con-
trols.
Voltage spike: A distortion (usually
assumed to be of a relatively high
voltage) in a voltage pulse of rela-
tively short duration superimposed
on an otherwise regular or desired
waveform.
Date 10/ 01/ 97
Technical Note 97-2
APPENDIX Useful Definitions (continued)
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