Heat Pump Induction Motor Faults Caused by Soft Starter Topology — Case Study

This paper presents a case study of electrical machine faults, emerging in heat pump systems. In Nordic countries, heat pumps have been gaining popularity during the past years and have become one of the leading ways of heating in households and smaller public buildings. Although not a very complicated setup, the devices used are still prone to unexpected failures, especially if wrongly chosen, installed or maintained. The paper presents a study conducted on five real-life cases with very similar outcomes and failure modes. The setup of the systems is explained, faults are listed and presented, causes of the faults including modeling and measurement data are provided. The suggestions are given to overcome such faults in similar setups in the future.