Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

April 2003 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the April 2003 issue, Vol. 56, no. 4, © 2003 Barks Publications, Inc. See also April 2003 Table of Contents and Previous issues 

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues.  In this issue ... War or not, trade shows offer opportunities ... the Dowding & Mills shop in Larbert, Scotland  ... Coming next month ....  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: Motor and load determine drive acceleration time ... Three-phase service for submersible pump? ... Are pacemaker wearers at risk around large motors? ... How to size a generator in order to supply an ASD ... Determining horsepower of motor replacing engine ... How to keep controls' semiconductors cool ... New V-belts need their initial tension re-checked ... Vibration readings on the fan end of a motor ... Inverter duty wire: Is it a complete cure? ... Step up or down, does the transformer care? ... Why ground the load as well as the motor?  ...  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 ... About copper vs. aluminum rotor design (EA February 2003), from Dale Hamil, Illinois Electric Works, Granite City, IL ... Energy conservation (EA February 2003) from Gersil N. Kay, Conservation Lighting International Lts., Philadelphia, PA, and John Atkins, Plant Engineer, Craig Adhesives, Verits, DMS, Newark, NJ ... Russian electrical code, from L.W. Brittian, Instructor, Texas State Technical College, Lott, TX ... 

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: The Power Transmission Distributors Association's Power Transmission Handbook now in its third edition ... Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA) convention in San Francisco ... Record attendance for AHR Expo 2003 ... SMMA 2003 Management conference to focus on Strategic Directions for the Motors & Drives Industry ... ASTM International confers Gary M. Kralik Distinguished Service Award on Richard F. Lynch, president of Lynch and Associates, Inc. .... UCLA faculty Tatsuo Itoh, Henry Samueli and Eli Yablonovitch elected to National Academy of Engineering ... Edited by Joseph Hoff 

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 

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including facility briefs, financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news.  This month: Saftronics and ABB in d-c drive alliance ... Motion Industries opens repair shop in Maine ... New headquarters for GE Supply Logistics ... Toronto HVAC supplier wins top honors ... Baldor buying Wisconsin generator maker ... Minarik in two distribution alliances ... Canadian resistor maker IPC Resistors, Inc., names Rondar Engineering and Technical Services integrator and JR Schmidt and Associates rep ... Certification Briefs Solidstate Controls, Inc. certified to ISO 9001:2000 ... Distributor Briefs Alignment Supplies Inc. of Toledo named US representative for Damalini SE of Sweden .. Fleming Supply and Kilowatt Classroom LLC are distributors for Test Products International ... E.S.R. Corp (Rock Hill, SC) and Independent Electric (KansasCity) distributors for Emerson Motor Technologies ...  Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• 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:  Solidstate Controls, Inc - Maintenance of UPS systems ... Emerson Climate Technologies and Refrigeration Service Engineers Society - compressor and motor troubleshooting ... Basler Electric Relay Application School - power system protection ... Kilowatt Classroom LLC - electrical training seminaars ... The Motion Institute - motion control, fluid power, electrical equipment troubleshooting, PLC's and bearings ... Baldor Electric Co - motors and drives workshops ... Solidstate Controls Inc. - battery management training and UPS power protection systems ... Joliet Junior College - industrial maintenance technology ... EASA - motor maintenance and business management ... AVO International Training Instutitute ... courses in electrical maintenance, safety, and telecommunications ... Academy of Infrared Training - infrared thermography ... ... Edited by Joseph Hoff 

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

• 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. 

• Electrical Manager ...A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.  This month:  The Mom Test for company dress codes ... Requirements for hiring immigrants ... How do you handle difficult, volatile employees?

  "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: SI unit guidelines issued by the American Socity of Testing and Materials ... IEEE, NEMA push for electronic balloting ... NEMA revises fuse standard ... National Fire Protection Association seeks public proposals on revision of NFPA 79 ... IEEE approves test standards ... ANSI approves AFCI revision ...   Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from January 2003 through September 2004 ... 

• 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.

• Safety and health in the workplace This month -Back injuries:  major workplace hazard - Conventional medical treatment has generally done little to provide long-term relief ... But repair of spinal fractures now possible ...   By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Accounting for management  This issue: Staying afloat when cash is tight - Ways to turn cash flow from negative to positive  By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the recently published book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• Names and Faces This month - Kevin Judd of Staco-Switch ... Donald Poland of SKF Service Division ... Ariel Nicolaci of Wall Colmonoy ... James Laraia and Carl Gruenberg of Wieland Electric Inc. ... Robert Williams of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. ... Todd Hendrix of Artesyn Technologies ... Jeff Faubion of Johnstone Supply ... George Ardonlino and Peter Benson of Solidstate Controls, Inc. ... Wei Zeng of General Machine Products Co., Inc. ... Christopher Seguin of LAPP Insulator Co. ... David Roark, Dennis Chardac and Andree Charisson of Cooper Wiring Division ... Craig Bauer and Frank Newburn of Omron Electronics, LLC ... John DiCarlo of Quin-T Group ...  Edited by Joseph Hoff

• Automation briefs  Recently featuring ... programmable logic controllers from KB Electronics ... power system monitor from Eaton Corp ... Programmable cam encoder from Baumer Electric ... Substation controller from GE Energy Services ... Digital panel meter from Automatic Timing and Controls ... I/O mounting board relays from Omron Electronics LLC ... Serial communications card from CyberResearch, Inc. ... linear variable differential transformer sensors from Sentech, Inc ...  ... Edited by David P. Tryling 

• Product briefs Photos and announcements  - Free and useful MotorMaster software from www.oit.doe.gov ...  drives and invers from Rockwell Automation, AC Technology Corp, Minarik Corp, and WED Electric Motors Corp ... .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.   April's puzzle is "What did he buy?"  The issue also features answers to the February puzzle, "Numerical Digits Sequence,"  and a list of featured winners:  John Bonk (Industrial Motor Service Corp, Montgomery, IL) ... Clarke Lewis McGee (McGee-Gamboa Enterprises, Donna TX) ... and sixty nine additional readers!   by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent 

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. ....This issue:  Reversing the decline in safety enforcement ... Until now OSHA fines had declined ... Imports of Japanese High-voltage insulators ... Key economic issues ... Confusing worker disability claims ... Worldwide personal computer demand ...  by the Editors

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "The why and how of transposed conductors."

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature.  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.

• 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

• 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 ... www.powerquality.copper.org   ... www.phoenixcon.com ...  Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• 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 

• Deaths  - Obituaries of industry people

• 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 ..

• EA reader at ease  ... Stories featuring unusual or interesting avocational interests of our readers