The Hidden Cost of Heat: How Overheating Kills Drives and PLCs

In modern factories, heat is the silent enemy. It doesn’t make a sound, but it quietly destroys the reliability of your most important assets — drives, PLCs, and control panels. Every degree above optimal temperature shortens a component’s lifespan, leading to unplanned downtime and expensive replacements.

Why Heat Is the #1 Cause of Drive Failure

Heat accelerates wear on capacitors, resistors, and power transistors inside your drives and controllers. For every 10°C increase in temperature, electronic component life expectancy can drop by half. Over time, this leads to blown fuses, warped boards, and drive trips that halt production.

Even brief exposure to high heat can cause thermal stress, especially in tightly packed cabinets with poor ventilation. What starts as a simple cooling issue can end in a total drive failure — costing far more than preventive maintenance ever would.

What Heat Does to Drives and PLCs

• Capacitor Breakdown: Heat dries out electrolytic capacitors, causing voltage ripple and erratic drive behavior.
• PCB Warping: Repeated heating and cooling cycles deform printed circuit boards, loosening solder joints.
• Sensor Drift: Temperature changes cause inaccurate readings in analog inputs and sensors.
• Processor Overload: PLC CPUs throttle performance or misfire logic under sustained heat stress.

10 Practical Ways to Prevent Overheating

Keeping your equipment cool doesn’t always require expensive upgrades. Here are field-proven steps engineers use to manage temperature:

1. Clean and replace cabinet filters regularly.
2. Maintain adequate spacing between drives and components.
3. Use properly rated cooling fans or heat exchangers.
4. Keep ambient room temperature within manufacturer specs (typically 0–40°C).
5. Seal enclosures in dusty environments but include filtered airflow paths.
6. Route cables cleanly to avoid airflow obstruction.
7. Inspect and clean fan vents during every PM cycle.
8. Install thermostats or temperature sensors in control cabinets.
9. Use air conditioning units for high-power enclosures.
10. Perform thermal imaging audits to detect hidden hot spots.

Early Warning Signs You’re Running Too Hot

Temperature issues rarely appear overnight. Watch for these subtle clues:

• Frequent overtemperature fault codes (e.g., “OH”, “F8”, “Overheat”).
• Discolored or warped enclosure surfaces.
• Unusual fan noise or failure alarms.
• Inconsistent motor torque or speed fluctuations.

Ignoring these warnings can turn a $50 fan issue into a $1,500 drive replacement.

When It’s Too Late: Repair or Replace?

If your drive or PLC has experienced repeated thermal trips or visible damage, it’s often safer to replace it rather than risk another failure. Industrial Automation Co. carries thousands of tested VFDs, PLCs, and control modules — all backed by a 2-year warranty. We also test every drive before it ships, ensuring it runs within safe thermal limits.

Protect Your Investment

Heat is unavoidable — but preventable. With consistent cooling practices and quality components, you can dramatically extend your system’s lifespan and avoid costly downtime.

Need help finding a replacement or preventive solution? Contact our team today.