Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

March 2002 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the March 2002 issue, Vol. 55, no. 3, © 2002 Barks Publications, Inc. See also March 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 - The amazing growth of communication technologies ... A business partnership is something like a marriage ... EA puzzle solvers set a high standard ... Coming in EA in April and May 

• 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: Ambient temperature doesn't mean rise ... some cleaning and painting concerns ... what causes difference in d-c field current? ... Does ground differ from earth? ... Are vibration and noise always together? ... What's the proper capacitor connection? Precision balance: whose standards? ... and more

• Letters  - In this issue, letters about - Failure mechanisms, from Peter Stipan, Manager, Component Engineering, Standard Drives, Rockwell Automation Mequon, Wisconsin ... Unbalanced voltages, from James R. Johnson, RE., Coos-Umpqua Area Engineer, Pacific Power, Roseburg, Oregon ... Defending the post office, from John Noid, Maintenance Manager, Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control, Cedar Rapids, Iowa . . . and some "final kind words," from Jim Schleining Billings, Montana and T.C. Jongsma, Desco Electric, Port Huron, Michigan.

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month - Janda Electric Motor Service, Invensys plc., Rockwell Automation, Graybar, GE Structured Services, Galco Industrial Electronics, Hoffman Enclosures... and many more ... 

• Electropix Photographs of people, places, equipment and more ...This month - A shocking solution (fence without stakes) in Grenoble, France ... The Largest U.S. VPI tank... and a safety inspection at A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company (a million hours accident free) 

• Trade associations and professional societies News of non-profit organizations serving the electrical mechanical industries.  This month  - news about The National Fire Protection Association World Safety Conference and Exposition . . . The National Refrigeration Contractors Association ... The International Association for Testing and Materials ..  and many more.  Note:  the 2002 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... 

• Electrical manager  A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.   This month - Keeping company communications open ... What USPS advises about mail handling ... Avoiding geekspeak, the new corporate lingo ... Workplace predictions: changes and challenges ... Working in the car and other foibles  ... and more

• 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, including our latest new book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace. This month: Speed adjustment or speed variation?  Our choice of terms implies who's doing the adjusting  by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering Editor . 

• Names and Faces This month - Mike Colotti and Alan A.Weiss of Osram Sylvania… . Richard Oglesby, Gail del Rio, Michelle Wade-Brunswick, Kris Maslin, Bruce Urashima, and Paul Cantrell, of GE Supply . . . Foster Brown of BP Solvay Polyethylene North America of Houston … Gustavo Padron of General Machine Products Co., Inc., of Trevose, Pa …Michael Mowrey, Kenneth McCown, Marc Immordino and Buddy Mitchell of Wieland Electric, Inc. . . . Timothy Foley of Waukesha Electric Systems of Waukesha, Wis. . . .Jeanne DuVal of Sensors Expo and Conference, managed out of Peterborough, N.H. Randy Sartain of Metals USA, Inc., Houston-based metals distributor and processor  .. .Edited by Stacy Whitman.

• 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: Industrial maintenance... Power transmission ... Electrical safety ... Hazardous locations... Digital multimeters ... Infrared thermography ... Refrigeration service... Repair and management ... and more ...

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from February through June 2002 ... Edited by Stacy Whitman.

• Standards briefs ...  This month -  The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers withdraws two proposals … The National Fire Protection Association and the 2002 National Electrical Code. …Underwriters Laboratories bushings and transformer guidelines.. the American National Standards Institute… The International Organization for Standardization… The National Institute of Standards and Technology … the International Electrotechnical Commission. Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. This month  Industrial Catalog from Sears…. electrical product source book from McGill EGS Electrical Group…Load testing equipment in a Torque-Speed-Power brochure from Magtrol, Inc … 2002 Pigalog catalog featuring products for cleaning up industrial spills… guide to ultrasonic parts cleaning from Omegasonics … 2002 General Catalog from Contact East, Inc., listing products for testing, assembling, and repairing electronic equipment …… circuit protection databook from Tyco Electronics … Welding and cutting equipment featured in the 2002 full-line catalog from Miller Electric Mfg. Co … Tools and test equipment featured in the Master Source-book for 2002 from Jensen Tools… Cutler-Hammer transfer switch and peak shaving equipment in a brochure from Eaton Corp … brochure with technical specifications for alternating current Transfer switches sensors, theory and application information, performance curves, and circuit diagrams and safety precautions, from Bicron Electronics Co. . . a safety supplies catalog from Lab Safety Supply Inc. . . Edited by the EA staff

• Product briefs Announcements of Circuit Interrupters, Controls ...  ... Measuring Equipment ... Power Quality ... Power Transmission ... Tools  and more  ... Edited by the EA Staff.

• Deaths  Brian Read, owner of Reads Electrical Pty. Ltd. in Fremantle, Australia

• Accounting for management Do your homework before entering a business relationship - In the financial world, it's called "due diligence."  By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the newly published book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Putting posters and signs to work - Insist that workers be vigilant about safety rules  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• EMBR update  - changes to the Electromechanical Bench Reference 2002, the annual buyers' guide that readers received with their December 2001 Electrical Apparatus.  Since the directory was published, corrections and additions appear in subsequent issues of the magazine. 

• 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  Congratulations to Janell Eichenberger, MN-lowa Electric Motors & Equipment, Clear Lake. Iowa, the only person to answer correctly both the Casey's Ground and Samuel Pillsbury puzzles in December 2001 EA.  Thirty readers submitted correct answers to the bonus puzzle: Ed Adams, ADCOM Transformer, Inc., Lake George, Colo. ... Hugh H. Brewer, Consulting Engineer, Fayetteville, Ark. ...  David A. Brunelli, Trinidad, Colo.  ... Pete Burns, Kayline Processing, Trenton, N.J.  ... Al DeLay, Ram Motors & Controls, Harrisburg, Pa.  ... Lionel Deslattes, IMC-Phosphates, St. James, La.  ... Becky Earl, Southern Electric Coil, Inc., Hammond, Ind.  ... Janell Eichenberger, MN-Iowa Electric Motors & Equipment, Clear Lake, Iowa  ... John Ekis, Entergy, Russellville, Ark.  ... Chase Fell, Jay Electric Co., Inc., Birmingham, Ala.  ... John Ghazal, Motortek Electric, Ottawa, Ont.  ... David L. Harvey, Q.E.M., Inc., Bartlesville, Okla.  ... Darwin Hendrickson, Western Bearing, Pullman, Wash.  ... James D. Hinze, Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative, New Concord, Ohio  ... Stuart Jones, Comprehensive Power, Inc., Shrewsbury, Mass.  ... Lance Kiel, Cheyenne Electric Motors, Las Vegas, Nev.  ... Ronald Kwisnek, Brass & Bronze Casting Co., Irwin, Pa.  ... Barry Mescolotto, Trans-Lectric Supply, Philadelphia, Pa.  ... Douglas McClung, Syngenta Crop Protection, St. Gabriel, La.  ... Carl Rhodes, East Texas Electric Motor Co., Marshall, Tex.  ... Mary Rogers, City of Pierce, Pierce, Neb.  ... Ralph Rundell, Rundell Electric, Grygla, Minn.  ... Charles E. Sample, Tennessee Valley Authority, Huntsville, Ala.  ... Wade Shepard, B.J. Shepard & Co., Charlotte, N.C.  ... Wayne Stebbins, Perigon Engineering, Matthews, N.C.  ... Bert Steck, Dreisilker Electric Motors, GlenEllyn, Ill.  ... Timothy M. Thomas, Suncoast Electric Motor Service, Inc., Tampa, Fla.  ... Mark A. Tessier, E/PRO Engineering & Environmental Consulting, Franklin, Mass.  ... Rod Vellenoweth, Tri-State Electric & Machine Co., Glen Dale, W.Va.  ... Daniel H. Williams, Arkansas Nuclear One, Russellville, Ark.

• Web briefs ...  Selected websites for the electromechanical specialist.   Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: Static Power Transfer Switches - how they work, what they do  ...Übertragungsschalter für statischen Strom  ... Principes des commatateurs de transfert d'alimentation statiques  ... ¿Cómo son los conmutadores de transferencia de energía estática? 

• 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 -Economic slowdown and productivity … Enron's "power generating assets" … investor-owned nursing homes…a device that makes electricity "visible" ….electrically efficient single family homes… gift tax rates linger on…..  

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

• Utility Briefs  - News of utility and power companies.  ...  Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor