The motor's dead, the panel's in front of you, and every second of downtime is costing money. Do you actually know where to start — or are you just guessing?
Most electrical references show you what a contactor looks like. This one shows you why it welds shut, why a VFD-driven motor's bearings fail eighteen months early, and how to find the answer systematically instead of by trial and error.
The Illustrated Motor Controls Troubleshooting Handbook is a complete, 16-chapter field reference built from the ground up: starting with the fundamentals of power circuits, control circuits, and NEC-based sizing, then building through contactors, overload relays, starters, and control devices, before advancing into reduced-voltage starting, variable frequency drives, and PLC ladder logic.
What sets it apart is the second half of the book. A single unified, five-step troubleshooting method — Gather, Identify Candidates, Isolate, Verify, Correct and Confirm — is developed in full and then applied across eight complete, real-world diagnostic case studies, each one built to show exactly how an intuitive first guess can be wrong, and how a physical measurement is what actually confirms a diagnosis.
The book closes by turning that same method proactive, with a full chapter on building a genuine preventive maintenance program.
Inside, you'll find:
- Original wiring and ladder diagrams for every major circuit, drawn to standard NEMA convention
- Fully worked calculations — FLA and overload sizing, SCCR verification, VFD V/Hz and braking calculations, insulation resistance trending
- Full coverage of contactors, overload relays, starters, pilot devices, VFDs, and PLCs
- Lockout/tagout, arc flash, and shock protection boundaries covered against OSHA 1910.147 and NFPA 70E
- Eight complete diagnostic case studies applying one consistent troubleshooting method
- A dedicated preventive maintenance chapter, glossary, and index
Whether you're a working electrician, an industrial maintenance technician, or studying to become one, this handbook is built to be picked up in the field, not just read cover to cover once.
Scroll up and get your copy today.