Linear motors can drive a linear motion without intermediate gears, screws or crank shafts. Linear motors can successfully replace ball lead screw in machine tools because they have a high velocity, acceleration and good positioning accuracy. On the other hand, linear motors emit large amounts of heat and have low efficiency. In this paper, heat sources of a synchronous linear motor with high velocity and force measured and analyzed. To improve the thermal characteristics of the linear motor, an insulation layer with low thermal conductivity is inserted between cooler and machine table. Some effects of the insulation layer are presented.