The motor is half the pumpset, and half the test record
Overall efficiency is a property of the whole set. A pump end that is doing its job will still fail its duty point behind a motor that is not, and a manufacturer who winds motors in house needs to know which of the two is at fault before anything is dismantled.
Tester therefore carries motor testing alongside pump testing: IS 996 for single phase small AC and universal motors, and IS 9283 for the water-filled motors that drive borewell submersible sets. The same package, the same database, the same report header.
Single Phase Motors
IS 996 covers single phase small AC and universal electric motors: the motors fitted to domestic monoblock and openwell sets. Tester produces the motor performance chart carrying all results from one set of no-load and load readings.
Typical use: a motor winding section proving each batch before the motors go to pump assembly.
| Quantity | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Supply voltage | V | Recorded at the motor terminals during the test. |
| Line current | A | No-load and full-load current for the declared rating. |
| Input power | W | Read from the watt meter on the bench. |
| Speed | rpm | Full-load speed, used with torque to derive output. |
| Frequency | Hz | Supply frequency at the time of test. |
| Efficiency | % | Derived from output over input power. |
| Power factor | — | Derived from input power, voltage and current. |
Scroll the table sideways on a small screen to see every column.
Charts and graphs
- Motor performance chart with all results
Also produced
- Motor testing report, single and customised
- Routine testing report for the assembled set
- Observed values kept against the motor serial number
Submersible Motors
IS 9283 covers motors for submersible pumpsets. Its acceptance criteria are written as limits rather than single values: minimum efficiency, minimum full-load speed, minimum full-load current, minimum starting torque and maximum leakage current. Tester records the observed value against each limit on one chart.
Typical use: a borewell pumpset manufacturer who winds motors in house and must show each motor within the IS 9283 limits before it is coupled to a pump end.
| Quantity | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum efficiency | % | Observed efficiency must not fall below the declared minimum. |
| Minimum full-load speed | rpm | Speed at declared full load, checked against the lower limit. |
| Minimum full-load current | A | Current drawn at full load, checked against the lower limit. |
| Minimum starting torque | % | Expressed as a percentage of full-load torque. |
| Maximum leakage current | mA | Upper limit; a water-filled motor is rejected above it. |
Scroll the table sideways on a small screen to see every column.
Charts and graphs
- Motor performance chart with minimum efficiency (%)
- Minimum full-load speed (rpm)
- Minimum full-load current (A)
- Minimum starting torque (%)
- Maximum leakage current (mA)
Also produced
- Motor testing report, single and customised
- Routine testing report for the assembled set
- Observed values kept against the motor serial number
How motor testing links to pump testing
On a monoblock set to IS 9079 the motor and the pump are one unit and are tested in one sitting. Tester produces the motor testing report and the routine testing report from the same entry, so the operator is not asked for the same voltage and current twice.
On a borewell set to IS 8034 the motor is tested to IS 9283 before it is coupled to the pump end. Holding both records against the same set number means that when a pumpset comes back under warranty, the motor test and the pump test can be read side by side.
On coupled centrifugal sets to IS 6595 the motor is a separate item with its own performance graph, and the software keeps it that way.
Where the motors are bought in rather than wound in house, the motor test record is entered from the supplier's certificate and held with the pump record, so the file is complete either way.
A motor's efficiency is paid for in every hour it runs
Electric motor systems used 53% of the world's electricity in 2023, and 87% of the electricity used in agriculture (IEA 4E). A borewell motor may run for many years, and every point of efficiency lost in the winding, the stampings or the bearings is paid for in electricity for every one of those hours, by the farmer or the building that runs it.
The motor test record is the one place that efficiency is measured before the motor leaves the plant. Tester records it to IS 996 and IS 9283 today, and keeps it with the pumpset the motor drives, so the overall efficiency of the set can be traced to its two halves.
We are taking the same record further: to three-phase motors and the IE efficiency classes of IS 12615, and to the fan and pump motors that cool data centres. Both are on our roadmap, not yet in the product.
What the motor record shows
- Efficiency derived from measured output over input power, not taken from the nameplate.
- Current, speed, power factor and input power at the declared rating.
- For IS 9283, each observed value against its limit, with a pass or fail.
- The motor serial number, held with the pumpset it went into.
Request a demonstration of Tester
Tell us your pump types and the IS standards you test to. We will arrange a demonstration for your plant, in person in Tamil Nadu or online anywhere in India.