TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

CONSTRUCTION: The Critical Components

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Generator Stator
Finger Plates &
Compression Ring

Stator Windings
Stator Core Iron

Circuit Ring
Assembly

Building Bolts &

Through Bolts

End Winding
Support System

Finger Plates &

Compression Ring

Circumferential
Ribbing

CONSTRUCTION: The Critical Components

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Generator Rotor
Collector Rings /
Rectifier Wheel

Retaining Ring
Main Field Coil

Bore Copper
Insulation

Slot Cell

Centering Ring
Snap Ring

Fan Blades

Bore Copper &

Radial Leads

Rotor Body Wedges

Rotor Body Forging

Coupling

Coupling Pins
Retaining Ring Insulation

End Winding Blocking

Generator Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Handbook To Assess The Insulation Condition Of Large Rotating Machines

Authors I.M. Culbert, H. Dhirani, G.C. Stone

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Number of Rewinds

15

10

0
6 10 12
15 17 19
21 25 27
29 31
35 37
39 41
Air-Cooled Age at Rewind (Years)

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Number of Rewinds

15

10

0
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Hydrogen-Cooled Age at Rewind (Years)

50

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Other
9%

Stator Core
12%

Insulation
Fault
8%

Loose End
Windings
34%

Stator Winding
79%

Loose Slot
Wedges
24%

Windings,
Other
13%

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Circuit Rings:
Mechanical dusting is
the term used to
describe the act of two
generator stator
components fretting
against one another
(within an oil-free
environment). The
associate dust is
actually winding
material abraded away
by the frictional
process.

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Stator Wedges:
The stator windings are
locked radially into the
stator core slots by
rows of wedges. Old
style wedges were
fabricated of such
materials as hard
woods or phenolic.
More modern wedges
are fabricated of
epoxy/glass laminates.
Wedges have a
tendency to shrink over
time, facilitating
looseness, fretting, and
axial migration.

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Moisture and
Contaminates:
The combination of
moisture (i.e. heat
exchanger leaks,
condensation,
inclement weather) and
contaminates (dirt,
dust, carbon, fly ash)
can become the
catalyst for phase-tophase and phase-toground flashovers and
faults.

Generator Stator-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Moisture and
Contaminates:
Water, surface
moisture, and
condensation will
evaporate. However,
evidence of their
presence typically
remains; this in the
form of familiar-shaped
runs, streamers, and
deposits.

Generator Stator-Specific Safety Alert

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Lead Carbonate:
Lead carbonate
contamination of
generators is most
prevalent in hydrogencooled machines with
coolers typically (but
not always) made
before 1968. Lead
carbonate typically
appears as a grayishwhite or orangish-red
powdery substance;
generally first seen
covering the generator
stator end windings,
bore, and rotor.

Generator Stator-Specific Safety Alert

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Asbestos:
Vintage generator,
particularly those with
asphaltic-mica
(thermoplastic)
insulation system
should be suspect of
having Asbestos
Containing Materials
(ACM). Stator coils
might be wrapped with
an outer binder of
ferrous asbestos tape,
which was used to help
control destructive slot
electrical discharges.

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Number of Rotor Rewinds

25

20

15
10
5
0
2 4 6 8
10 12 14
16

18 20 22

24 26 28
30 32 34
36 38 40
Generator Age (Years)

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Winding
Distortion
11%

Other
9%
Turn
Shorts
13%

Retaining
Rings
8%
Insulation
34%

Winding
Cracks
8%

Exciter
3%

Damper /
Wedges
15%

Ground
Short
3%
Collector
Rings
7%

Other
18%

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Rotor Turn Insulation:

Rotor turn-to-turn
insulation can migrate
axially within the slots
of a rotor body forging.
With respect to radiallyvented rotors, gas
passage ways can be
blocked-off.
Asymmetrical heating
of the rotor then leads
to thermal sensitivity
and excessive vibration
at higher loads.

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Rotor Turn Insulation:

Certain General
Electric rotors were
wound with a specific
type of turn-to-turn
insulation, which has a
tendency to migrate out
from between the
conductors of the main
field winding. Without
this insulating material
properly in place, turnto-turn shorting will
eventually occur.

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Rotor Windings:
Thermal cycling can
cause significant main
field winding
deformation (generally
most pronounced with
regard to the outer
most turns). This
conductor displacement
can then lead to turnto-turn, coil-to-coil, and
even pole-to-pole
shorting.

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Rotor Wedges:
Unbalanced load,
system oscillations, and
other types of abnormal
operation can induce
alternating currents into
the rotor body forging,
flowing along teeth,
wedges, and within the
retaining rings. Pitting,
arcing, and burning can
develop across high
resistance contact
areas (i.e. wedge-toretaining ring).

Generator Rotor-Specific Aging Factors

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Retaining Rings:
Subjected to their own
hoop stresses as well
as centrifugal loading of
the main field end
windings, retaining
rings are the most
highly stressed
components within a
generator. Visually
inspected and nondestructively tested for
evidence of impact
damage, stress risers,
and other such
deficiencies is critical.

Generator Rotor-Specific Safety Alert

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Lead Carbonate:
Lead carbonate
contamination of
generators is most
prevalent in hydrogencooled machines with
coolers typically (but
not always) made
before 1968. Lead
carbonate typically
appears as a grayishwhite or orangish-red
powdery substance;
generally first seen
covering the generator
stator end windings,
bore, and rotor.

Generator Rotor-Specific Safety Alert

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.

Asbestos:
Vintage generator rotor
may also have
Asbestos Containing
Materials (ACM).
Blocking, end winding
armor, retaining ring
insulation, and slot
armor should all be
suspect of being ACM
until proven otherwise
through appropriate
testing.

Key Take-Aways
TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE, INC.