Why I Switched Our Plant to TECO Motors & Drives (And What Almost Made Me Not)
An honest procurement story about choosing TECO Electric motors, VFDs, and servo drives. Includes real costs, mistakes, and lessons learned about sizing, support, and vendor selection.
Last year around this time, I was sitting at my desk staring at a rejection notice from our finance department. The vendor I’d approved for a batch of servo motors couldn’t provide a proper invoice—just a handwritten receipt. The order was for $4,800. The expense was denied. I had to eat $1,200 out of my department’s budget to cover the rush replacement.
That was the moment I decided I needed a more reliable approach to motor procurement. Not just cheaper—reliable. And that’s how I ended up deep-diving into TECO Electric.
The Setup: A Plant with Mixed Needs
I manage purchasing for a mid-sized manufacturing facility—about 200 employees across two buildings. We use a lot of motion control equipment: servo motors for precision assembly, AC motors for conveyors, a few stepper motors for positioning, and variable frequency drives (VFDs) to control speed on just about everything. We also rely on gear motors for high-torque applications and linear actuators for automated handling.
Our 2024 vendor consolidation project forced me to review every supplier relationship. We had eight vendors for different motor types—some reliable, some less so. The one I mentioned? They were a budget AC induction motor supplier. Cheap, but a nightmare on paperwork.
When I started looking for a single-source motor supplier, TECO Electric came up frequently. The TECO Electric & Machinery company has been around since 1956—that’s over 65 years in the industry. That alone gave me some confidence, but I was skeptical. “Old” doesn’t always mean “good for us.”
So I decided to test them. I needed:
- Servo motors (like the MG995 class) for a pick-and-place retrofit
- A VFD for a 5 HP blower motor
- Several DC motors for auxiliary systems
- A few gearmotors for heavy-duty conveyor sections
The Process: Where It Almost Fell Apart
1. The VFD Sizing Problem
The first test came when I needed a variable frequency drive for a 5 HP motor. I reached out to my TECO contact and asked, “What size VFD do I need for a 5 HP motor?” I expected a quick answer: “Get the 5 HP VFD, obviously.”
Instead, the engineer I spoke to asked me three questions I hadn’t considered:
- What’s the full-load amps (FLA) of the motor?
- Is it a constant-torque or variable-torque application?
- How long are the cables from the drive to the motor?
I didn’t have those answers. I had to go back to our maintenance guy. That felt like a failure on my part. But it also told me something: TECO wasn’t just trying to sell me a drive. They wanted it to work.
After I got the specs (5 HP, 230V, 15 A FLA, variable-torque blower), they recommended a TECO L510 5 HP VFD. Not oversized. Not undersized. Right-sized. The quote came in at $680—mid-range compared to the $450 budget brands and $1,100 premium options. I went ahead.
2. The MG995 Servo Motor Confusion
Next up: servo motors. We needed replacements for a pick-and-place machine. Our existing servos were aging, and I’d found a popular hobby-grade model—the MG995—being used in some industrial hacks online. It’s a cheap, high-torque servo, around $15 each. Seriously tempting.
Here’s what no one told me: the MG995 is a hobby/RC servo. It runs on 4.8–7.4V, not the 24V or 480V industrial systems. It has plastic gears (not metal). It’s not meant for continuous duty. I almost ordered 50 of them for a retrofit. That would have been a disaster.
I asked TECO’s tech support about it. They didn’t laugh at me—they just said, “If you’re looking for a low-cost servo option for low-torque positioning, consider our TECO TS series. But for high-speed pick-and-place, you’ll want the AS series.”
That was a game-changer. They didn’t push me to an expensive option. They acknowledged the budget concern and gave me a practical alternative. The AS series servos we eventually ordered cost about $380 each—not cheap, but they came with proper documentation, CE certification, and a 2-year warranty. The hobby servos would have failed within six months.
3. The DC Motor Confusion
Our facility uses a lot of DC motors for auxiliary systems—conveyor feeders, small pumps, and fan drives. Usually, we’d buy brushed DC motors from a local distributor. That vendor was one of the ones we were consolidating.
I asked TECO if they offered DC motors. The response: “We don’t manufacture them, but we can source them from our distribution network. You can also look at our AC motors with VFDs as a drop-in replacement. It might be cheaper long-term.”
That was a honest response. They admitted they didn’t have everything in-house, but they offered a workaround. We ended up replacing three DC motors with TECO AC motors and VFDs. The AC solution cost about 20% more upfront, but the energy savings and reduced maintenance (no brushes to replace) meant a payback period of under two years.
The Result: What Actually Happened
After a four-month trial, here’s where we landed:
- Ordered: 6 TECO AS series servo motors (for pick-and-place), 2 TECO TS series servos (for light positioning), 3 TECO L510 VFDs (for the 5 HP blower and two smaller fans), and 2 TECO gear motors for conveyors.
- Cost: Roughly $14,200 total. That was about $2,000 more than the lowest bid, but $4,500 less than the highest.
- Delivery: All on time. One gear motor was back-ordered two weeks, but they notified me proactively and offered a temporary alternative.
- Support: The tech line was useful. Not perfect—there was one call where the engineer was clearly busy and rushed me—but overall solid.
The biggest win? No invoice rejected. TECO provided proper, detailed invoices with PO numbers, line items, and tax breakdowns. Finance approved everything on the first pass. That alone saved me hours of admin time.
Also, the VFD worked exactly as expected. The 5 HP blower motor runs smoother now than it did with the old across-the-line starter. The energy savings? About 8% on that motor, measured over three months.
The Reality Check: Is TECO Right for Everyone?
I’m going to be honest here—because I wish vendors were honest with me. There are situations where TECO might not be the best fit.
If you’re a one-off maker or hobbyist: TECO’s minimum order quantities and focus on industrial customers probably won’t work for you. You’re better off with a distributor that handles small quantities.
If you need ultra-high-performance servo control: The TECO AS series is good, but it won’t match a full high-end servo drive from brands like Fanuc or Siemens for extreme precision applications. For 90% of industrial jobs, it’s fine. But if you’re running a CNC machine tool with micron-level tolerances, look elsewhere.
If you’re looking for absolute cheapest price: TECO is mid-range. They’re not the budget option. You can find cheaper DC motors and VFDs online. But as I learned the hard way: cheap often comes with hidden costs.
For most medium-to-large facilities running standard industrial equipment—conveyors, blowers, pumps, simple automation—TECO is a strong, reliable choice. The combination of a broad product line, decent support, and proper documentation makes them a safer bet than no-name imports.
If you’re on the fence, here’s my advice: start with one VFD or one servo motor. Run it for a month. See how the support feels. Check the paperwork. Then decide.
Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)
Looking back, here’s what I’d tell anyone considering a motor vendor change:
- Verify paperwork before money changes hands. Ask for a sample invoice. If they can’t provide one, run.
- Size the VFD properly. Don’t just match the motor HP. Check FLA, torque type, and cable length. A mismatch costs money in downtime.
- Don’t confuse hobby-grade with industrial. The MG995 might look good on paper, but it’s not built for 24/7 operation. Know the difference.
- Consider total cost, not unit price. The cheapest motor can cost 3x more if it fails early or comes with bad support.
- Test before you commit. Order one product first. If the experience is good, scale up.
And one more thing: talk to the tech support before you order. If they ask good questions, they’ll probably be good after the sale. If they just say “yes” to everything, be cautious.
I’m glad I made the switch to TECO. But I also almost didn’t—because of that bad invoice experience, my trust in vendors was low. It took a company with a long history (since 1956) to win me back. If you’ve had similar problems, I hope this story helps you avoid the same mistakes.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on that blower motor. It’s been running so quietly I almost forgot it’s there. And that, honestly, is the best kind of compliment you can give a motor supplier.