Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

July 2001 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the July 2001 issue, Vol. 52, no. 7, (c) 2001 Barks Publications, Inc. See also July Table of Contents.

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• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues, by Horace B. Barks, Editor and Publisher This month - Where alternative energy is working ... the Varflex Corporation's EASA exhibit...

• Let's Solve Your Problem The longest-running and one of our most popular features, Let's Solve Your Problem answers real questions posed by people in plants and service shops around the U.S. and abroad. Selected Q&A's from this column are available in our popular Let's Solve Your Problem books. This month's problems include: Measuring vibration may be difficult at low speed ... How is performance of motor certified ... What's a good limit for contact drop?  Rotor core drilling:  a good way to balance? ... Must test voltage be repeatedly lowered? ...Why use sandpaper to clean a commutator?... When i s a neutral not a neutral? ... Does electrical damage cause bearing vibration?   ... and more

• Letters Letters from Dick Quantrille, Kaman Industrial Technologies ... Lloyd D. Shank, P.E., Director of Electric Utilities, Leesburg, Florida ... Thomas H. Bishop, Longo Electrical Mechanical, Inc. and Chair, Technical Service Committee, Electrical Apparatus Service Association ... 

• Trade associations and professional societies News of non-profit organizations serving the electrical mechanical industries.  This month  - Shipper horror story from the Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League (PEARL) ... National Association of Manufacturers heaping praise on Administration proposals ... EASA updating motor rewind data ... Lean Manufacturing for the Small Shop published by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers ... Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute gets certification for China trade shows ... Electric Power Research Institute joins The Weekly Reader in teen program .. The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society honors Robert "Sandy" Fordeck by establishing a scholarship in his honor ... Electronic Components, Assemblies and Materials Association announces 34th International Connector and Interconnection Technology Symposium and Trade Show ... "Electrical Troubleshooting seminar planned for September in Portland ... Call for papers for the 53rd Annual International Appliance Technical Conference in cooperation with the University of Kentucky ... Association people in the news include Daniel W. Holmes, Chairman and CEO of Morrison Products.  ... ...  and more

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month - United Industrial buys Akron Canton Electric Motor and Supply ... Grand Eagle, Inc., moving its headquarters to Ohio ... Air Relief, Inc. and Hibbs Electric in compressor alliance ... Laser Technologies earns inspection exemption from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ...Koyo Corp. of U.S.A. earns John Deer supplier award.  Pennsylvania Electric Coil Ltd. moves to 73,000 square foot facility ... Custom Power Technology buys Thor Technology rights ... Tyco Electronics consolidates terminal block line .. The City of Chicago makes a "green" agreement with Commonwealth Edison ... PD Wire and Cable wins supplier award ... Saftronics signs brand label agreement with GE Industrial Systems  ... Beel Service, Inc., changes its name to Beel Industrial Controls, Inc. ... Pittsburgh Electrical Insulation and Electronic Connections Inc. open new sales offices ... Dart Controls has been certified to ISO 9001 ... Mike Oswald of Bob's Electrical drives away with a 2001 GMC Savana van after winning the Siemens Corp sweepstakes ... and more

• Training Briefs Announcements of workshops, seminars and instructional materials, and our Training Index, listing program topics featured in Training Briefs in the past year - This month: Quality certification ... Electrical safety ... Electrical distribution ... Motor maintenance ...Power transmission ... Machine reliability ... Coupling alignment ... and more

• Accounting for management This month - How much accounting information is too much?  Knowing which financial reports are essential and which can be added to enhance profits By Wiliam H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor.

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Herbal remedies - Where a little knowledge can sometimes be dangerous  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor.  Also - A harvest of information about herbs, from the American Botanical Council, and books by Dr. Varro E. Tyler from Pharmaceuticals Products Press. 

• New Books Recently published books, reviewed by our editors.  See also Books for the Plant and Shop from Barks Books, including titles from the editors of Electrical Apparatus.

• Standards briefs This month - American National Standards Institute (ANSI) proposes adoption of three electrical equipment standards ... International Electrotechnical Commission in search of global harmony ... Final approvals announced by ANSI for metal cable tra systems, dry type general purpose distribution and power transformers, standard power cable ampacity tables, temperature limits, standard terminal markings and connections, and maximum winding temperature rise in liquid filled transformers ... two new electrical standards (for fire resistive cables and for electrical resistance heat tracing) from Underwriters Laboratories...  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Names and Faces This month - David Meyers, Roy Wang and Paul Esling from ITT Industries, Cannon ... Peter Gibson and David Meador from DTE Energy ... Richard Bryan and Dave Buddle from Hoffman...  Edited by Kevin Jones.

• Deaths  Henry Dillard Jr., founder of Electronic Drives and Controls, Parsippany, N.J. 

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from July 2001 through June 2002 ... Edited by Kevin Jones.

• Electropix This issue skips the separate Electropix section but is full of four color photos: Laser Technologies' John Johnson accepts his OSHA plaque ... Penn Coil's large new home .. Sioux Falls buddies admire their friend's new van ... many photos from Guadlajara motor repair businesses ... winding motors at L&S Electric, Schofield, WI, McHenry Electric & Supply Co, McHenry, IL, Etheridge Electric, Tyler, TX ... products from the Shop Equipment Showcase ... and more

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. This issue - Portable, temporary and utility lighting products from McGill (EGS Electrical Group) ... Making Energy Efficiency Work for You from Baldor Electric Co ... the third generation of clamp-on ground resistance testers from AEMC Instruments ... industrial lubricants and services in the Dow Corning Fluid Consolidation Program ..  ... and more

• Product briefs Announcements of power quality, controls, software, switching devices, test instruments, and  tools...

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month's topic is "When is a winding too tight in the slot?"  Wann ist eine Wicklung 'zu eng' im Schlitz eingesetzt? Wuand est-ce qu'un enroulement est 'trop serré' dans la fente? ¿Cuando es un Devanado 'muy apretado' en la ranura?

• Puzzles   Puzzles you and your colleagues can solve for fun and, if your answers are correct, for recognition in Electrical Apparatus.   by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent 

• Classified Advertising Equipment, jobs, businesses, business opportunities and services.

• Cy's Super Service, Motorhead and Generatorhead Comic strips featuring characters from our favorite cartoonists. 

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. This issue - are wireless phones safe? ... Demand for UPS SYstems continues ... More attentio must be paid to repair welds ... 'Panic Conservation' of lighting should be avoided, says the National Lighting Bureau ... US Postal Rates go up again this month  ... The Social Security Administration reminds married couples to pay separate SS taxes ...  

• Advertising Index  An easy to use reference to the advertisements in Electrical Apparatus magazine.

• Say It Right By Richard L. Nailen, P.E.,  Contributing Editor. This month ... What does Warranteed really mean?  Not to be confused with 'warranty,' which backs up a guarantee with a promise. 

• Utility Briefs  - News of utility and power companies. This month .. proposed federal tax credit could benefit fuel cell users; endorsed by Energy Co-Opportunity, Inc., ... Grant County Public Utility Districh in interactive TV Venture with Myrio Corp. and Benton Rural Elecctric Association's PowerNet network. 

• Electrical manager  A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers. This month - the high cost of undeliverable mail ... turning up the economic downturn ... making the right impression for your company ... Firing - it's dirty work, but someone has to do it ... Living securely on the Web ... Going on vacation? Listen to McGruff, the crime dog....

• EMBR update  - changes to the Electromechanical Bench Reference 2001, the annual buyers' guide that readers received with their December 2000 Electrical Apparatus.  Since the directory was published, corrections and additions appear in subsequent issues of the magazine.  

• Shop Equipment Showcase  - A special section devoted to equipment and materials used in apparatus service and repair.