New Gear Equipment Sawmilling
EBI Electric offeres dry kiln motors

Back then, many sawmills began to invest more significantly in new technologies and training regarding lumber drying. Thus new dry kilns were built and others were retrofitted here and there in the Beauce area to replace aging ones. One of the sawmills of the time, Moulin Jules Laflamme in Saint-Benoit that dried different types of softwood species, had recurring issues with its dry kiln motors: there wasn’t a month when Laflamme’s maintenance manager came to EBI to ask for the repair of some of the motors that operated inside the dry kiln. The ownership of Moulin Jules Laflamme even had its entire dry kiln motor set replaced more than once in order to find a motor brand that would be able to resist the harsh conditions of their lumber dry kilns at least for a satisfying period of time. All they wanted was to stop worrying about the motors not functioning properly and focus on wood drying. They could not. The harsh conditions of Laflamme’s dry kilns such as high temperature, humidity, wood acidity and the corrosive environment kept having the best of the dry kiln motors that ended either at the scrapyard or at EBI’s repair shop for reconditioning.

In 1995, when the maintenance superintendent of Moulin Jules Laflamme came to EBI’s motor repair shop to bring a new batch of damaged dry kiln motors that needed to be refurbished, he went straight to the repair shop manager, Bruno (who is still a devoted EBI member today) and asked: “Wouldn’t you guys be able to produce a custom-made dry kiln motor that would finally be built to last?” That is on that day that the idea of the EBI dry kiln motor and our slogan, “built to last” was born, and it is in 1995 that the first EBI dry kiln motor prototypes were successfully tested at Moulin Jules Laflamme in Saint-Benoît.

Today, more than 400 sawmills in North America and Europe trust the EBI dry kiln motor and more than 20,000 units have been bought around the world through EBI’s distribution network. EBI Electric only manufactures dry kiln motors. It is our specialty and we don’t manufacture other types of motors.

The EBI dry kiln motor slowly but surely started to make a name for itself from 1995 for three main reasons: the high quality of the product, its warranty and its fast delivery. First of all, the EBI dry kiln motor is built as a tank. One of its crucial ingredients is the stator which is a one-piece frame made of robust cast iron: no compromise. That crucial ingredient greatly helps to enhance heat dissipation caused by the dry kiln. The rest of the ingredients to build that dry kiln motor are all high temperature and humidity resistant parts from gaskets, leads, oversized regreasable bearings, and seals to heat treated components such as the rotor. Every EBI dry kiln motor is lap winded by hand (compared to concentric windings by robots). Every EBI dry kiln motor produced is made entirely by hand and therefore lap winded which allows more copper in each stator: again to enhance heat dissipation and resistance. The end result is a class H high temperature dry kiln motor that is CSA and UL approved and ISO 9001 quality controlled. The EBI dry kiln motor is warranted up to 3 years at 212oF and 2 years at 248oF. Finally, a crucial element for the sawmill that dries lumber when it comes to choosing a reliable dry kiln motor is to make sure that this dry kiln motor can be delivered fast. For EBI Electric, delivering fast means that we have the most popular models of dry kiln motors in stock in one of our distributor warehouses and ready to be shipped. It also means that we keep some in stock for many customers that include sawmills, distributors and dry kiln manufacturers. Our distribution network at the four corners of North America also ensures fast and reliable delivery. To this day, 10 well-known dry kiln manufactures sell their dry kiln with EBI dry kiln motors inside.

Next time you visit your dry kiln for maintenance activities or to carry on with the greasing of your dry kiln motors, check their nameplate. If you see the EBI logo at the bottom right, check the date when the motor was manufactured and see for yourself: since 1995, the EBI dry kiln motor has been built to last. Learn more at www.ebielectric.com/en