Cast Iron vs Rolled Steel Motor

Good morning,

I am looking to order a motor online, and it comes in both cast iron and rolled steel. Which one will have a longer life in a very harsh environment? There will be lots of saw dust and debris in the location of the motor.

Thanks,

As far as longevity both would be about equal
They mage have a different frame size To consider.
For your application I would recommend a TENV frame and monitor the temperature of the motor. When dealing with wood chips the last thing you want is the motor overheating and starting a fire.

We use these motors: https://www.baldor.com/brands/baldo...motors/severe-duty/general-severe-duty-motors.

They have worked very well for us.

Frame size will dictate which you use in most cases. Cast iron has cast iron end bells and is for larger shaft applications. The rolled steel are normally lighter and run cooler than cast iron because the cast iron has the defined fins where the rolled steel pulls cooling air across the smooth outside surface.

Because of the cast iron cooling fins they are not good for places where they would get wood chips or sawdust in the cooling fins for example as that would make them run hot. The rolled steel having the smooth outside will not trap saw dust or wood chips. They may pile up around it but the running motor and the smooth outside will keep it from piling up. This is just one of many examples and scenarios.

Cast iron is also normally the best choice for VFD over speed applications due to the heavier construction of cast iron it holds up better to the increased mechanical stresses of over speeding.