Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

March 2003 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the March 2003 issue, Vol. 56, no. 3, © 2003 Barks Publications, Inc. See also March 2003 Table of Contents and Previous issues 

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues.  In this issue ... Distribution is the ne name of the game ... A good cigar puts this reader at ease ... Highlights from the April, May and June issues ....  by Horace B. Barks, Editor and Publisher

• 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: Is skimpy insulation a problem for motors? ... Any limits on motor surface temperature?... What's a Faraday shield all about?... Sizing contactors for capacitor circuits ...How to specify motor inrush current...What causes vibration change with temperature?... Dealing with tracking on insulation surfaces ... Corona damage, or winding contamination?   ...  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.

• EA reader at ease  Tony Hood, vice president of sales and marketing for WEG Motors and Drives, on the simple pleasures of cigar smoking

• Letters  In this issue ... Bigger motor belts, from Jerry Barshov, CEO, Babco, Inc., Maspeth, N.Y. ...Kind words, from Thomas A. Gibson, Huntersville, N.C. ... A correction to our reply to the letter from Jerry Corkran, of Copper Power Systems, Waukesha, Wis. (January 2003, page 8)

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

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including facility briefs, financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month Standard Electric, Wilmington, Mass., buys distributors Intercity Electric, of Framingham, and Lowell Electric, of Lowell ...Milwaukee-based Badger Transformer Co., Inc., acquires Mag-Con Engineering, Inc., of Lino Lakes, Minn ... Helwig Carbon in joint venture with Gerken SA of Verviers, Belgium .. Falk Corp., Milwaukee, buys Orange Peel Rotating Shaft Guards of Cedarburg, Wis.... Atlanta-based GE Power Systems agrees to buy Osmonics, Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn.... Volland Electric Equipment Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y, joins the Motor Services Network of Rockwell Automation ... General Atomics Energy Products of San Diego wins national lab contract at Sandia National Laboratory near Albuquerque ... Emerson Motor Technologies plant, Kennett, Mo,. receives Missouri Enterprise Business Assistance Center business award ... Schenck Trebel Corp. of Deer Park, N.Y. and Essex Brownell of Fort Wayne, Ind. in distribution deal ... Fiftieth anniversary for Johnstone Supply, Inc., of Portland, Ore.... Penn-Union Corp. of Edinboro, Pa., undergoes certification audit ... Peerless-Electric, Warren, Ohio, selects Kinetic Technologies, Inc., of Rochester Hills, Mich., as sales representative for Michigan.

    Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior 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: Refrigeration engineers to discuss air quality at the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society, the New England States Association, and Tecumseh Products Company seminar in April, Northampton, Mass.... EASA chapter officers to meet for training ... Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) launches a business development trade mission program in China and Southeast Asia ... Adhesive and Sealant Council, Inc., and the Center for Adhesive and Sealant Science offer online training in adhesion science ... Edited by Kevin Jones 

Note:  the 2003 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... To update or add a listing to the 2004 EMBR, email eamagazine@barks.com 

• Training Briefs Announcements of workshops, seminars and instructional materials, and our Training Index, listing program topics featured in Training Briefs in the past year 

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

• Web briefs ...  Selected websites for the electromechanical specialist … In this issue ... www.leviton.com ... www.weldinginnovation.com ... www.imi-sensors.com ... www.powellelectric.com ... www.payneng.com ... www.carlon.com ... www.winsmith.com ... www.tricomfg.com ... www.westernelectric.com.au ... powerquality.copper.org ... www.phoenixcon.com ...  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from January 2003 through September 2003 ... 

• Standards briefs This month: The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers begins work on testing silicone liquids ... the American  National Standards Institute approves Underwriters Laboratories raceway standards ... The IEEE announces standards action on IEEE 637 and IEEE 450....  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• 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, Let's Solve Your Problem - Volume III.

• Names and Faces This month - David Murphy of Quin-T Group. ...Francis Santiago,  Asahel Parmelee and Jeffrey Hoffman of Precision Materials & Components Worldwide ... Robert Drago and Jon Memsic of Holophane ... Gary Vaughn of Hernon Manufacturing ... Robert B. Gemignani of LAPP Insulator Co.... Ariel Nicolaci of Wall Colmonoy ... James Laraia and Carl Gruenberg of Wieland Electric Inc ...

• Deaths  - This month: Thomas E. Schue, avid hockey fan and president of Antec Corp. in Mounds View, Minn.  ... Thomas Glenn Garrison Sr., racing enthusiast and former foreman of Hobgood Electric and Armor Electric... Woodrow (Woody) Spurrier McClure Sr., founder of Dixie Electro Mechanical Services, Charlotte.

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "Low Voltage Busway: An Overview"  

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Protecting workers' hearing - Thirty million workers still ignoring sound advice - They won’t wear hearing protection and nothing happens—until later....   By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Accounting for management  This issue:  Becoming a more efficient distributor - In the new equipment business, warehouse layout can mean the difference between profit and loss By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the recently published book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• New - Automation briefs  Recently featuring ... data loggers from Dickson ... Ethernet product line from Electronic Systems Technology .. printed circuit board terminal blocks from PCD inc. ... TCP/IP compatible camera from Vision Components ... Edited by David P. Tryling 

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature.  In this issue Brushes, brush holders and metal-graphite sliding contracts from Schunk Graphite technology ... Manual switching controls from EAO Switch Corp ... professional tools from Wiha quality Tools ... vacuum fault interrupter switchgear from Cooper Power Systems.... hand tools from Bahco North America ... electronic and telecommunications wiring accessory catalog from Richco, Inc.... electrical contractor tools from Tyco Electronics ...stainless steel sanitary motors from Sterling Electric ... ovens and furnaces from The Grieve Corp ... online transformer insulation monitoring system from Cutler-Hammer ... Electrical interconnection components from Wieland Electric ... welding and cutting technologies and products from Miller Electric ... safety equipment and supplies from Lab Safety Supply Inc. ... Dry type transformers from Jefferson Electric ... Safety Equipment Catalog from Mine Safety Applicances.... 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 Photos and announcements of  controls ... interconnections ... measuring equipment .. motors and gearmotors ... .and more  ... Edited by the EA Staff.

• Braintrainers  Puzzles you and your colleagues can solve for fun and, if your answers are correct, for recognition in Electrical Apparatus.   Recent puzzle was "Numerical Digits Sequence. The issue also features answers to December's "wheel Fallacy" Puzzle and featured winners:  Ed Laursen (Servo Motors and Drives, Inc., Greenfield, Wisconsin) ... Robert J. Vaughan (The Reuter Organ Co., Lawrence Kansas); Marius Andreica, Northwest Magnet Inc., Portland, Oregon; Jim Milam, US Army Corps of Engineers, Mountain Home, Arkansas; Mike Nicholls, Ash Grove Cement Co.; Clancy, Montana, Brian Robinson, Textile Electronics, Dalton, Georgia; Douglas Short, Wismer & Rawlings, Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada; Wayne L. Stebbins, Perigon, Matthews, N.C.   by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent 

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. .... by the Editors

• Utility Briefs  .. In this issue ... Texis-New Mexico Power co bought by Sempra Energy ... Wisconsin Public Power buys Pratt & Whitney turbine ... Edited by Kevin Jones

• Electrical Manager ...A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.  This month:  Preventing employee theft and fraud ...Tightening credit to stop bad debt losses...

  "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. 

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace.  In this issue ... does certified imply something special?  Most likely not, and here's why ...   by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering 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. 

• 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.

• Electripix  Photographs of people, places, equipment and more ..