Water In Induction Motor

I've been working in the maintenance technician field for a little over three years now and I have a question.  I've been working in the food industry for six months and I had come across some puzzling situations.  So I always thought water and electric don't mix.  Yesterday at work I got a call for a 45HP 480VAC induction motor not working.  As I was looking around I opened the "pecker head" and discovered it was filled with water from the wash down.  I was told to dry it off and it will be good to go and my boss was right.  How can water enter the windings and not short out the motor?  Does the varnish between each phase windings acts like a insulator which prevents the motor from shorting out?

Yes. That, and the fact that an induction motor does not use commutation (as in DC or universal motors) - brushes and/or the commutator will get corroded very fast in the presence of water and electricity.

As to why it did not work with water the reason could be it is damping out the stator's magnetic field significantly, or simply physically causing a significant braking force or lag on the rotor.

Since the windings in the stator are insulated how can water prevent the induction motor from working? When water enters the induction motor what are the symptoms to look out for in AC induction motors and DC carbon brushed induction motors?

Thank you for your reply



Thanks, Chris