Drives, motors + switchgear
Africa’s world-class service provider for rotating equipment
Last year, MechChem Africa , sister publication of Electricity + Control in the Crown Publications stable, visited the Cleveland facility of Marthinusen & Coutts, a division of ACTOM (Pty) Ltd, and spoke to Marketing Executive, Mike Chamberlain, about the business’s comprehensive on- and o-site service, repair, remanufacturing and testing oering. We share the report here, with acknowledgements to MechChem Africa .
Form-wound copper stator coils being installed for a motor at Marthinusen & Coutts’ Cleveland facility.
F ounded in 1954 by a group of recognised leaders in the repair and servicing of electric motors, Marthinusen & Coutts (M&C) has grown into a trusted service provider for the remanufacturing, repair and maintenance of rotating equipment, most notably for the rewinding of medium and low voltage ac and dc motors, generators, transformers and coils, along with advanced testing. “We oer a full range of electrical and mechanical services across all industries. We have extensive capabilities in power generation and mechanical engineering from seven well- equipped repair workshops in Southern Africa that now employ almost 450 people,” says Mike Chamberlain, the business’s marketing executive. As well as the 9 500 m· Cleveland workshop in Johannesburg, M&C has a 14 000 m· workshop in Benoni and a facility in Rustenburg. “We also operate through other ACTOM outlets across Africa, including in Kitwe, Zambia, GEC in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Namibian Armature Rewinders in Walvis Bay, among others,” he says. “In addition to being a leading repair business for all sizes of motors and generators, we have a sister division on the mechanical side, ACTOM Turbo Machines, for repairing and re-engineering turbines and all types of large rotating machines,” he adds. What makes M&C di erent? First and foremost, M&C has an Africa-wide network of people with
the skills and experience to manage complex projects on sites all over the continent, says Chamberlain. “We can quickly respond to customers’ needs, be they on-site repairs and refurbishments of large motors or motor/generator rewinding and refurbishments at one of our facilities.” For very large machines, the Benoni facility includes a 140 t Wagner lathe that can accommodate a 40 t, 11 m workpiece with a swing of 3.2 m. “We have also invested in specialised equipment and tooling for coil retaining ring removal, and we have a 90 t crane capacity and 1 000 t hydraulic presses for very large salient pole coils used for hydro and synchronous generators. At our Cleveland operation, we have the best-equipped rotating electrical machines load test facility in Africa and a 32 t balancing machine. “For windings, four insulation systems can be accommodated, along with three dierent vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) systems for void-free insulation, which enhances the dielectric and mechanical strength of the windings and delivers improved thermal conductivity.” M&C’s electro-mechanical testing facilities are the most comprehensive in Africa. “We oer full load testing of HV, LV and dc equipment, and on-site diagnostics, including electromagnetic core imperfection detection (ELCID) testing, turbine vibration analysis (TVA), partial discharge (PD) monitoring, and rotor flux analysis, among other testing services.
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