Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

September 2002 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the September 2002 issue, Vol. 55, no. 9, © 2002 Barks Publications, Inc. See also September 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 - When service saved lives: the near disaster that imperiled miners in Pennsylvania ... Optimism? Why Not?  "Looking to expand and to hire more" should be the goal of every progressive company ... 

• 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: What is the rule for in-service hipot? ... How high do efficiency standards go?  ... Field redesign for synchronous machines ... What test voltage for slip ring assembly? ... What can substitute for a running test? ... Why should new windings get an a-c test? ... Does pulley alignment save any energy? ... Corona damage, or winding contamination? ... Why should space heaters become open circuited? ... Predicting motor life for inverter duty ... Is bearing life depending upon motor temperature? ... Clarify the relationship of motor torque and slip ...   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 - Troubleshooting carbon brushes, from Gary Lozowski, National Electrical Carbon Products, Greenville, South Carolina ... Kind words for EA, from Frank Cluff, Abitibi Consolidated, Taylor, Arizona 

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

• Puzzles   Puzzles you and your colleagues can solve for fun and, if your answers are correct, for recognition in Electrical Apparatus.   This month's issue features "The Housing Development."  Congratulations to those who solved the last puzzle, "The Handcuffed Prisoners" brainteaser, which ran in the June issue: Chester "Gayle" Littrell, of Krauth Electric Co. in Lexington, KY,  was the first person to submit a correct entry.  Other readers who solved the puzzle were: Sandy Kirchner, Beals Motor Rewind, Cherokee, LA ... Douglas McClung, Sungenta Crop Protection, St. Gabriel, LA ... Jim Milam, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mountain Home, Arkansas ... Bala Raghavan, Marathon Electric, Wausau, WI ... Ralph E. Rundell, Rundell Electric, Grygla, MN ... Timothy M. Thomas, Suncoast Electric Motor Service Inc., Tampa FL .. Lou Van Hout, Shakopee Public Utilities, Shakopee, MN      by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent  

• 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 Electricity Consumers Resource Council ... the Electrical Apparatus Service Association ... the Environmental Protection Agency ... The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society ...Energize America Educational Institute ... Association People: Frank Silveria receives EASA's Exceptional Achievement and Service Award ... Ron Kelling, Joe Bruce, and Gary Fell serve the Gasket Fabricators Association ... ...Coming meetings: Meetings sponsored by the American National Standards Institute ... SMMA - The Motor and Motion Association... the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute ... A call for papers for the Instrumentation Systems Automation Society ... 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 - Minarik Corp. sells interest in Advanced Digital, Inc., to AC Technology ... Kentucky Service Company moves to larger facility in northern Lexington ... Tyco Electronics Corp. opens Shanghai testing laboratory ... Circuit Assembly Corp signs licensing agreement with Amphenol East Asia Ltd. of Taiwan NKK Switches earns Siemens supplier award...Stik-II Products of Easthampton Mass acquires Dielectric Polymers Inc. from Park Electrochemical Corp. ...   Financial Briefs Baldor Electric reports net earnings up 12% ...and more.  Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• Electrical Manager ...A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.  This month -  Dealing with bankrupt customers ... Desktops still king, despite laptop gains ... When employees wonder about a company's honesty....  

  "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. 

• Standards briefs This month: the International Electrotechnical Commission continues to seek wider acceptance of international standards ... The U. S. Department of Energy publishes rule for climate control equipment ... the National Electrical Manufacturers Association enters the "fast track" race ... the American National Standards Institute seeks comments on installation proposal ... Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute standards are available on the Internet via www.ari.org ...  and more ...  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace.   This month - How big is a "large motor"?  Choosing the right word means going along with a consensus by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering Editor 

• Electropix  Photographs of people, places, equipment and more ...This month - Student competition winners atthe Leadership Conference and SkiillsUSA Championships in Kansas City, Mo. ... the EASA show in photos ... 

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from July 2002 through July 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 Energy Management ... International Standards .. Repair and management ... Infrared thermography .. Safety 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: "Checking Battery Capacity"   Prüfverfahren zur Überwachung der Akkukapazität ... Méthodes d'essai pour surveiller la capacité des batteries ... Métodos de prueba para vigilar la capacidad de las baterías Lo Que Hace

• Accounting for management  Planning now can save taxes later - It isn't too early to beginning planning for the next tax season 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 -Danaher Power Solutions' Kurt Gallo ... Bahco North America, Inc.'s Jim Webb and Dallas Stuck ... Wall Colmonoy Corp's Linda Fitzpatrick ... FuelCell Energy Inc's Jerry Leithman and Charles Murphy ... Liburdi Dimetrics Corp's Wayne Tuttle ... Omron Electronics' Jim Mooney ... Edited by Stacy Whitman.

• Deaths  This month - Wallace Brithinee, founder of Brithinee Electric ... Ivan Guy Pixler, retired owner of Pixler Electric

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. This month  - literature from Magtrol .. the National Electrical Contractors Association ... A.O. Smith Company  ...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.

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Asthma is becoming a chronic workplace problem - cases in the U.S. increase by 75%  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Utility Briefs  - News of utility and power companies....This month - Massachusetts utility joins Motor Decisions Matter ... CES International user and industry conference will examine energy restructuring's future ... For California's Pacific Gas and Electric, deregulation or demanagement? 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 - Electrical Manufacturing moves in fits and starts ... good news for air conditioning manufacturers ... a secure wireless network requires more caution ... dot coms continue to fail ... . space scientists experiment with mercury zinc selenide .. 

• 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.