Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

August 2002 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the August 2002 issue, Vol. 55, no. 8, © 2002 Barks Publications, Inc. See also August Table of Contents.

Save postage and handling fees: Order back issues direct from our online webstore.  Back issues are $5.00 each. To purchase copies by mail or telephone, using credit card or check, contact Barks Publications, 400 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60611-4104  (312) 321-9440 tel, (312) 321-1288 fax. Non-credit card orders add postage and handling:  $1.25 for first copy, plus $.50 for each additional copy. (No postage and handling is charged for orders placed on the web.)

We welcome your comments and inquiries re: subscriptions and advertising. Please include your name and contact information.  

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues, by Horace B. Barks, Editor and Publisher This month - Some billionaires make "EBITDA" a dirty word ... Trade shows - junkets, or schools? ... "Strategic alliance" or risky business?. 

• 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 can torsional resonance be calculated?  Using a no-load test to find part-load efficiency .... Shortcut method for finding chord factor ... Dealing with sticking brushes ... How does variable speed affect motor efficiency? Soupling lubrication can be difficult to handle ... What temperature limit to use for a hipot test?  ... Service factor better for frequent starting? ... Connection for converting motor to transformer ... What's causing unbalance to shift position? ... How high is a high bar in a commutator?  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 - Too much vibration?  From Jim Richardson, President, G. and J. Associates Ltd., Westerville, Ohio ... Motor laminations, From Joshua York, Motionworx Corp., Upland, California 

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,  professional societies and government activities  News of non-profit  government, and other organizations serving the electrical mechanical industries.  This month's items include news from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association ... the Electrical Manufacturing & Coil Winding Expo ... the Electrical Motor Education and Research Foundation ... SMMA, the Motor & Motion Association ... the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society ...Association People: the National Fire Protection Association's Arthur E. Cote, P.E. ... the National Electrical Manufacturers Association's Marc Onetto ... the Electrical Apparatus Service Association's new international officers: Woodrow S. McClure Jr., Les Parsons, Bill Nielsen ... EASA's Brian Gibbon, George Stratton, Art Anderson, Enrique Cortes ...  ...Coming meetings: Meetings sponsored by the American National Standards Institute ... the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute ... SMMA - The Motor and Motion Association... Tips for best use of  air conditioning ... and more...

Note:  the 2002 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... To update or add a listing to the 2003 EMBR, email eamagazine@barks.com 

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including facility briefs, financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month - Kingsbury, Inc. receives the President's "E" exporting award ... Rea Magnet Wire's joint venture with Tongling Jingda ... AC Technology buys Advanced Digital ... A.O. Smith begins producing condenser motor ... Beel Industrial Controls offers drive support ... Associated Research opens California office ... Flono Corp. is named Emerson Motor Technologies distributor ... 3-D Service is made an ABB, Inc. service provider ... Loctite Corporation is renamed Henkel Loctite ... NKK Switches names Gopher Electric Minnesota distributor...   and more.  Certification Briefs Buhrke Industries certified to the ISO 14001 standards for environmental integrity in its manufacturing process ... New sales representatives Arizona Sun Sales and Healy-Mattos are new representatives for Galvan Industries, Inc. ... Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace.   This month - Who decides what's "right"?  Choosing the right word means going along with a consensus by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering Editor 

• Standards briefs This month: the International Electrotechnical Commission struggles with globalization .. the International Organization of Standardization publishes standards for rolling bearings, radial bearings and Tolerances ... NEMA issues new motor control center publication ... IEEE approves new Ethernet standard ... the International Electrotechnical Commission introduces new publications ... ANSI adopts new standards for single-phase induction motors 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 -  IRS audits ... How to write product releases ... Resolving to be a better manager every day....  

"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 - Geothermal energy extracted from the earth in Soultz Sou Forêts, France ... Certified big screen video in Yankee Stadium ... Multi-service electric vehicle in Paris ...

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from July 2002 through March 2003 ... Edited by Stacy L. 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 Motors and Drives ... Electrical maintenance and safety ...Predictive maintenance ...  Infrared thermography  .... Safety ... Plant Management ... 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: "'Insulating Varnish - What it is, What it does"   Isolierender 'Lack' - was ist das, was tut er? ... Le 'vernis' isolant - ce que c'est et ce qu'il fait ... 'Barniz' Aislante - Lo Que Es, Lo Que Hace

• Accounting for management What if you sold your business?  What offer should you expect? How do you compute an asking price?  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 - Permabond's Glenn Frommer ... Siemens Energy and Automation's Aubert Martin ... Minarik Corp's George Reisselmann ... the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute's Henry Hwong and Zubin Dastoor... Walt Colmonoy Corp's Rick Hedden ... Swiger Coil System's Martin Gault ... Mr. Electric's Rick Cross ... Edited by Stacy Whitman.

• Deaths  

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. This month  - literature fromWavetek Meterman Test Tools ... Erico, Inc. ... Cyber-Research, Inc. ... Penn-Union Corp ... Emerson Motor Technologies ...and more ...   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 .. lighting ... motors and gearmotors ... power quality ... software ... test instruments ... 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.   The last puzzle, "The Handcuffed Prisoners" brainteaser, ran in the June issue.     by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent  

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Work can be a pain in the back ... and in the hip, knee, elbow, and shoulder   As workers get older, injury risks increase By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Utility Briefs  - News of utility and power companies....This month - Commonwealth Edison announces new wind power farm ... Oregon's Eugene Water and Electric Board and PacifiCorp Power Marketing Inc. announce large wind purchase ... Sempra Energy Resources buys Texas-New Mexico Power Company ...   Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. This issue - Wind is the planet's fastest growing energy source ... Is deflation returning? ... Obesity and diabetes ... A fuel cell cogeneration unit ... the Hypercar, automobile of the future? ... Auto buyers see fuel cell's potential ... 

• 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. 

• 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.