Beat the Heat: Why IGBTs Fail in Summer and What You Can Do About It

When most people think of heat-related damage in industrial environments, they picture scorched wiring or burned-out motors. But one of the most common — and most quietly destructive — casualties of summer heat is the IGBT. These power modules don’t always fail dramatically. Instead, elevated temperatures degrade them slowly, quietly reducing their performance, accelerating wear, and shortening useful life. For many maintenance teams, the first sign of trouble comes only after the equipment shuts down — often in the middle of a production run or critical operation.

At ATI Accurate Technology Inc., we frequently hear from customers who experience unexpected failures in the summer months, especially in equipment running older or discontinued IGBT modules. What they’re often experiencing is the result of cumulative thermal stress — the kind that silently builds up until the module can no longer operate reliably.

IGBTs, or Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors, are critical components in high-power electronics. They're used to control electric motors, pumps, drives, and inverters across a wide range of industries — from manufacturing and water treatment to mining, HVAC, and agricultural automation. While these modules are designed to operate under load, they’re also highly sensitive to heat. Internal junction temperatures must be kept within strict design limits — typically between 125°C and 175°C depending on the module. When ambient conditions rise in summer, and cooling systems aren't operating at peak efficiency, those internal temperatures can spike quickly.

🔥 How Heat Harms IGBTs

IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) are built for switching high power loads. But their performance — and lifespan — can plummet in summer temperatures if cooling systems aren’t up to the task.

Here’s how heat silently works against you:

• Higher junction temperatures increase the risk of thermal runaway and failure.
  
• Switching losses go up, causing additional heat that compounds the issue.
  
• Lifespan shortens — a 10°C increase can cut life expectancy in half.
  
• Thermal cycling fatigue (hot days, cooler nights) causes internal cracking and bond wire failure.
  
  

These effects are magnified in legacy systems using obsolete or aging IGBT modules — especially ones with degraded thermal paste or weak solder joints.

According to power electronics industry research, every 10°C increase in junction temperature can reduce the lifespan of a semiconductor component by as much as 50%. That means a component rated for 100,000 hours at 100°C might only last 50,000 hours at 110°C — and even less if the temperature fluctuates frequently. Thermal cycling (the daily rise and fall of temperature) also causes mechanical stress. Over time, repeated cycles cause solder joints to crack, bond wires to lift, and internal delamination to occur — especially in older modules already exposed to years of electrical and thermal stress.

Consider a real-world scenario. In an agricultural setting, such as a cornfield irrigation system powered by a high-capacity inverter, IGBT modules like the Semikron SKIM601GD126DM are responsible for driving motorized pumps during long, hot days. On a 95°F (35°C) afternoon, if the cooling fan is partially clogged with dust or thermal paste has dried out, the module’s case temperature can exceed 85–90°C, with junction temperatures climbing even higher under full load. At that point, a single power surge or heat spike may push the module past its thermal threshold — leading to immediate failure or latent damage that causes failure weeks later.

It’s not just agricultural systems at risk. Facilities operating in steel mills, food processing, paper production, or petrochemical refining are all susceptible to heat-related IGBT degradation — particularly when older equipment has not been retrofitted or maintained with thermal performance in mind.

So what’s the best course of action? The most effective strategy is a proactive one. That means regularly inspecting and cleaning cooling systems, ensuring thermal interface materials are intact, and using temperature monitoring tools to flag devices running hot. It also means recognizing the risk of running equipment with obsolete IGBTs — especially in systems with no redundancy or access to OEM support. Once these modules fail, sourcing replacements can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if the part has been out of production for years.

Summer heat is here. Here’s how to stay ahead of failure:

• Inspect your cooling systems (fans, thermal paste, filters, heat sinks)
  
• Use thermal sensors or IR cameras to detect hotspots
  
• De-rate loads in extreme heat to give margin for aging modules
  
• Replace suspect IGBTs before failure — especially older, discontinued models
  
• Stock critical spares for parts that are already obsolete or hard to find

That’s where ATI Accurate Technology Inc. comes in. We specialize in sourcing obsolete and hard-to-find IGBTs and power modules, helping MRO teams, field technicians, and OEM service departments keep legacy systems running — even during the most demanding seasonal conditions. We work with clients across industries to assess risk, identify critical spares, and ensure replacement stock is available before failure occurs.

If your facility operates in a high-temperature environment, or if your critical equipment relies on legacy IGBTs, now is the time to prepare. Preventing downtime is always more cost-effective than responding to it.

If you'd like help assessing your current IGBT inventory or identifying summer risk points in your systems, visit igbts.us or send us a message directly. We would love to hear from you!

Email: websales@igbt.us.com

Phone: 239.734.7566

#industrialautomation #MRO #IGBT #summermaintenance #legacycomponents #equipmentreliability #preventivemaintenance