Helwig Carbon Products, Inc. is proud to announce that the BPK-Probe™ has been issued US Patent #10942203.  This major innovation provides a means to detect induced shaft currents in motors controlled by VFD drives.

Helwig Carbon provides the shaft grounding industry the lowest resistant path to ground via a proprietary silver graphite brush grade to protect from damaging VFD-induced shaft currents.  This one-of-a-kind brush grade is 5X lower in resistance than

Helwig Carbon Bearing Protection Kits (BPKs) are now available on WEG motors. We’ve partnered with one of the world’s most respected motor brands to offer shaft grounding pre-installed on new motors!

Motor bearings are essential components in electric motors that provide support and facilitate smooth rotation of the motor’s rotating shaft. However, as electrical currents flow through motor bearings this can cause damage and shorten your motor’s lifespan.

With a growing number of shaft grounding brush assemblies on the market today, it can be difficult to determine which solution works best for your particular application. As a supplier to OEM motor manufacturers for over 30 years, Helwig Carbon’s shaft grounding solutions have continually evolved to accommodate a wide range of applications. 

Electric motor bearings fail for a variety of reasons but the two most common reasons for electrical failure are circulating and common mode currents. Circulating currents are found in all motors. The severity of the problem and therefore the risk to the motor bearings is proportional to the motor frame size — meaning the larger the motor frame the greater the risk. In this article, we will take a look at circulating currents, including the cause, their impact on motor bearings, and effective strategies to mitigate damage.

Problem Overview: The Patent Pending BPK-Probe™ is an easy to use instrument specifically designed to measure the risk for damage to motor bearings, gearboxes, or other devices that are susceptible to electrical discharges, also known as common-mode. These discharges are typically the result of

Even the strongest Juggernaut needs a little help from a small silver graphite brush. The Century® JuggerNaut® condenser fan motor from Regal Beloit® comes standard with a BPK-IM2, our smallest shaft grounding option.  The IM2 will provide many years of protection against harmful common mode currents passing through the motor bearings. These motors are designed as a drop-in replacement for existing models, to work with VFDs, and withstand high operating temperatures.

Check out our newest application brief: “Bearing Protection Kits in Universities”.  This application brief covers the usage of Helwig’s Bearing Protection Kits at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. UNL was looking for reliable bearing protection after they experienced motor failure due to VFD bearing damage, despite using a popular competitor’s solution. They tested our BPK-4 shaft grounding solution and were convinced that our unit would protect their motors from harmful shaft discharge. UNL now has Helwig’s BPK solution specified into their requirements for any motors controlled by VFDs, thus preventing further VFD bearing damage.