On Friday, 6 March 2015 07:37:11 UTC, Paul Conners wrote:
180 vdc, 1 hp, pm motor.

with dmm what should be the first tests? motor is in a difficult location to
examine visually so i'd like to start with electrical evaluation.

it measures 1.2 ohms between the 2 armature leads.

thanks.

That's the problem trying to measure motors. If it's ok it's always going to read low ohms, but maybe it should read 3.2ohms (eg) and has shorted turns (eg), how would you ever know? If on the other hand it measured K ohms it would be faulty. An insulation test from windings to armature would be more appropriate. If that's ok give it a spin (I mean apply power).