Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

June 2002 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the June 2002 issue, Vol. 55, no. 6, © 2002 Barks Publications, Inc. See also June 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 - Family business can be successful ... Enron and the EPA - what a difference five years make! ...  Coming in EA:  July - Shop Equipment Showcase ... August - Insulating varnish and EASA - The show in print ... September - Monitoring batteries ... 

• 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: How large a generator to back up a UPS? ...In-slot thermocouples: Are they a problem?... RTD protectors - an unusual accessory ... How long will the average bearing last?... A hammer test for loose rotor bars ... What criteria for testing bearing insulation? ... What's causing noise in our d-c motor?  ... What life span for spare coils in storage? ... Is motor affected by a power supply fault? ... What bolt tightness for explosion-proof motors? ... How well do thermostats work in d-c motors? ... Reactor or transformer for harmonic control?  and more   Edited by the EA staff 

You are invited to send questions to this department. Your identity will be kept confidential, but we ask that you include your name, affiliation, postal (not e-mail) address, and telephone number. If you'd like a pre-publication reply, enclose a stamped envelope and we'll try to respond promptly. We cannot provide personal consultation or supply winding data.

• Letters  - In this issue, letters about - How hot burnout ovens? from Lin Langford, Flanders Electric, Longview, Texas  ...Synchronous condensers, from Peter Gosser, Ward Energy Systems, Fayetteville, Arkansas ... Kind words, from Richard McKernan, Gonzales, Louisiana, T. C. Jongsma, Desco Electric, Port Huron, Michigan, and Ronald Lewellyn, Lark Electric, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Electrical Apparatus invites letters, 250 words maximum. All letters, including e-mail, must include name, company, title or position, phone number, city, state or province, and country. We may edit your letter for clarity and space.— Editor

• Trade associations and professional societies News of non-profit organizations serving the electrical mechanical industries.  This month  -The American Council for Renewable Energy calls an organizing conference ..The United States ok's participation in standards development ... The Air Conditioning Contractors of America test technicians in the National Air Conditioning Technician Examination .. Refrigeration Service Engineers Society offers discount program to sister organizations... Professional Electrical Apparatus Recyclers League (PEARL) drafts plans for the future . Coming meetings: Meetings sponsored by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association ...  The Coil Winding/Insulation and Electrical Manufacturing Exhibition .... The Adhesive and Sealant Council ... The Electric Power Research Institute ...The North American Marketing Conference, National Association of Electrical Distributors, Electra-Federation of Canada, and the National Manufacturers Representatives Association ... ISA - The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society...Association People: Dr. C. Claire Claiborne of ABB, Inc. ... John Michael Kuzmuch from Ney, Inc.  

Note:  the 2002 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... 

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including facility briefs, financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month -Volland Electric ... Mead Supply ... fluke Corporation ... Reliable Power Meters ... GE Supply ... Questron Technology ... GE Supply Logistics LLC ... Addison Electric .. U. S. Motors ... Warren Electric ... Motion Industries ... WEG Electric Motors Corp ... Darby Electric ... Peer Bearing Company ... Dana Brake & Chassis ... Lafert North America ...Wavetek ... East Penn Manufacturing Co ... Harting Electronics GmbH & Co ... Future Electronics ... Kingsbury, Inc.   and more.   Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• Standards briefs ...  This month - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers looks at battery practices ... ISO vibration standard is available ... Fault protection standards are approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ... IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) introduces new publications ...A number of fiinal actions are taken by ANSI  ... ANSI seeks public comment of NEMA cable standard ...  and more.  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Electrical Manager ...A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.  This month -  Identify theft ... How to know about and deal with it.  Including information from the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse.  

"Electrical Manager" is a copyrighted feature of Electrical Apparatus.  Any kind of reproduction, including electronic transmission, without permission of Barks Publications is illegal and is prohibited. 

• Electropix Photographs of people, places, equipment and more ...This month - Lighter rails in La-Richelle Aytré, France —the new Citadia train, built by Alstom … Quicker Connections in Philadelphia - Using special "Hollo-Bolts" in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts … Faster Cooling in Mono Country,  California - Evaporative cooling media pads in a geothermal facility.

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from June 2002 through August 2003 ... 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: seminars and training materials on Electrical Print Reading ... Motors and Generators ... Motors and drives ...Disaster preparedness ...  Power quality . . . Industrial Maintenance ... Reliability ... Electrical safety . . . Power transmission ... Infrared thermography  .... and more ...

Producers of workshops, seminars, and instructional materials are encouraged to mail announcements to Training Briefs Editor, Electrical Apparatus. There is no charge.

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "The other alignment concern: Belt pulleys"   Ein weiteres Problem der Ausrichtung: Riemenscheiben ... L'autre  problème d'alignement: les poulies à courroie ... La Otra Preocupación Sobre el Alincamiento: Las Poleas para Correa

• Accounting for management Improving production to cut costs - Look to scrap, salvaging of used materials, reducing downtime, and component planning to improve profitibility  By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the newly published book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• 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.

• Names and Faces This month - Henry Knueppel of Regal-Beloit Corp ... Richard Marking-Camuto of Cooper Power Systems ... Sandra Wood and David Palmer of ITT Industries, Cannon ... George Jucha of Amektek ... Joseph Michael Longo of Longo Electrical-Mechanical, Inc. ... Russell Lowe of Holophane ... Mike Pille, David Sheridan, David Huebschen, Mike Bedwell, and Rick Glesner of Gardner-Bender ..  Tom Steiner of Toolmex ... David Anderson of Trend Servo Motor Repair ... Roger Montambo of Galvan Industries, Inc. ... Bruce Sabin of Watlow ... Bill Moore of Mr. Electric ... Peter Masterson of Quin-T Group ... Ann Marie Harmony of Pacific Ocean Wave Energy Research... Edited by Stacy Whitman.

• Deaths  James L. King, Jr. , co-founder of Electric Motor and Contracting Co., Inc., of Chesapeake and Courtland, Virginia.  

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. This month  - catalogs from Ogden Manufacturing Company, United Electric Controls, Leviton Mfg. Co., Littelfuse, Inc., Baldor ELectric, Lincoln Electric, and Cooper Bussmann ... bulletins and brochures from Ferraz-Shawmut Inc., Cooper Power Systems, and Minco Products .. and a "three step relay selection guide" poster from HBControls...  Edited by the EA staff

Mail announcements of new products and literature to Editorial Department, Electrical Apparatus (page 2). No faxes, e-mail, or follow-up calls, please. There is no charge for publication, which does not constitute endorsement, nor can we verify product claims.

• Product briefs Announcements of controls ... drives and inverters ... interconnections ... measuring equipment .. motors and gearmotors ... power transmission ...safety equipment .... tools ....  and more  ... Edited by the EA Staff.

• Puzzles   Puzzles you and your colleagues can solve for fun and, if your answers are correct, for recognition in Electrical Apparatus.   This month, "The Handcuffed Prisoners" brainteaser, and the list of 66 readers who answered the "Eight Cards" puzzle... including "first in" winner Robert S. Swanson Sr. of Kennett Square, Pa.   by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent  

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - The disabilities law continues to evolve.  If one spurns a prosthesis because a wheel-chair is more comfortable, is it a disability?  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. This issue - Further muddling of disability rights laws ... American prefer printed magazines to online publications ... The Nigerian scam ... Decline for heat pump and central air sales ... lookalike laptops are causing problems for travelers at airport security checks ... public comments about the U. S. - Microsoft settlement   ...  

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

• 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. 

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace.    by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering Editor 

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

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

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

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