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Question:

An AC motor is running at 90% full load rating continuously. is it ok or need to upgrade to higher capacity?

An AC motor is running at 90% full load rating continuously. is it ok or need to upgrade to higher capacity?

Answer:

Running at 90% load should be fine. If you upgrade to a higher capacity, the motor will likely be operating at a less efficient load point, wasting energy and costing more to operate.
It is good to run at 90% of full load rating. At least, there is still an allowance for 10% above normal load. If you upgrade to higher capacity, you will have more core and copper losses, which is an added load on the factory.
90% is good. Anything less and the efficiency drops off very rapidly. You are lucky to have something run at this capacity. Normally motor power requirements are way overrated by mechanical engineers afraid of going too small. This wastes massive amounts of power through inefficiencies. Many companies even have policies to buy high efficiency, more expensive, motors but then run them at low capacities and so low efficiency

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