[Project] Fault Detection: Motor Stall

Fault Detection: Motor Stalls is an algorithm that identifies anomalies in the performance of large appliance (240V) motors with spikes above 1000W, including (but not limited to):

  • HVAC / Heat Pumps
  • Sump Pumps

At this time, the Fault Detection: Motor Stalls algorithm does not detect:

  • HVAC fan stalls.

If you’ve received a notification in the Sense app about a motor stall, we’d like you to share details here in the community (please do not reach out to Support for any issues regarding Motor Stalls). Simply create a new post and fill in the details in the Sense Labs template to share your details with the community for feedback.


How to create a new motor stall post for community feedback

  • Title - For the title of your new post, please label the post: Motor Stall - [SUBJECT]
  • Completeness - In order for the Sense community to provide feedback or insight, please share the below details when posting a motor stall to the community. Here is an example of a properly formatted submission.

Required information to include:

• How your device issue was detected

Did you get the notification “Fault Detection: Motor Stalls” in your app?

• What device has a potential issue

If known, please share any relevant notes about appliance performance/behavior (for instance, not starting up right away, making an abnormal noise)

If unknown, please provide a list of 240V devices.

Screenshots - Sense Labs: Motor Stall screenshots and Power Meter motor stall screenshots

Optional information to include:

• make and model information for the device

• any specs on the device’s power consumption (if possible)

Tagging - Please make sure the entry is tagged correctly as “motor stall.”

Consistent formatting - Please make sure you have as many of the above criteria as possible in your post so Sense community members can offer feedback or questions.


Resources for Large Appliance Motor Stalls

Below are some initial resources for large appliances that are most likely to experience a motor stall. If you have suggestions for additional resources to add to this list, please reach out to @JustinAtSense.

HVAC/Heat Pump

Sump Pumps

Troubleshooting an Electric Motor

  • Electric Motor Diagnosis: Electric motor basics with information on household appliances motors.
  • Electric Motor Capacitors: The most common issue with a large appliance with an electric motor is usually a capacitor. Here’s more information about what a capacitor is and where it can be found in various household appliances.
3 Likes

I hope this is the right place to post this.

We just experienced the motor stopping on our HVAC. Two nights the fan quit. It created a very unique pattern, I suspect from the co pressor overheating and shutting down repeatedly. The fan motor finally died and has been replaced today.

It is an older commercial unit, a combo unit. The fan that died is the condenser fan.

Screenshots available

@dsalch, two questions:

  1. Do you have Sense Labs turned on via Settings in the web app ? You should be able to go to this link:

https://home.sense.com/labs

  1. Did Sense Labs report a motor stall ?

Yes the labs setting is on

No, there is no motor stall reported.

The compressor in my heat pump seized up thursday morning last week. I heard a weird noise when I woke up, checked Sense, and saw this. The red is a normal heat pump signature; the green is the compressor trying to start, pulling ~5kw, then stopping, and trying again (for the next 2hrs) until I turned the system off.

The Motor Stall feature in Labs did not alert me, the Labs Voltage chart is 10days behind so I can’t see that graph for this time period yet.

I sent support an email about this and they told me motor stall alerts aren’t a thing.

@JuliaAtSense can you let us know if motor stalls are working, or if we’re supposed to get alerts?
And if the voltage graphs (in labs) are ever going to update in a reasonable amount of time?

2 Likes

Hey @Edison517, I just escalated your ticket within our Support team so you should be hearing from someone within 24 hours.