Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

November 2003 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the November 2003 issue, Vol. 56, no. 11, © 2003 Barks Publications, Inc. See also  November 2003 Table of Contents and Previous issues 

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues.  In this issue: It's still the economy ... Annual directory time ... What's coming in December and January... 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: One way to calibrate a grease gun .. How to get rotor bars tight in slots .. Do thrust bearings have to be in matched pairs?  ... Are 460 volt motors suited to 440 volt system? ... Avoiding resonance in a vertical pump motor ... Why grounding straps on damper bars? ... What test voltage for uncured stator coils? ...How many trips can a circuit breaker tolerate? ... Is there an easier way to check out a drive repair?... 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.

• Electrical Manager ...A potpourri of news and features, selected and edited for maintenance and service managers.  In this issue: Ways to save on this year's taxes ...

  "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. 

• Letters  In this issue  - Danger from vacuum units, from Alan Dartnell, P.E., Control Systems Supervisor, Chevron Texaco Global Power Generation, Asset Management, Bakersfield, 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 issue: 2004 EASA Convention to be held in Washington, D.C. (dshuter@easa.com ) ... IEEE 802.15.3 Millimeter Wave Interest Group to explore wireless personal networks - http://ieee802.org  ... NEMA's blackout solution: Is it workable? ... Adhesives foundation course on fundamentals  ...Edited by Joseph Hoff 

  Note:  the 2003 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... Update or add your listing to the 2004 EMBR.

• Standards briefs  ...In this issue:  NEMA announces long-term strategic plan ... Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, American National Standards Institute and American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers adopt heat pump standards ... ANSI approves UL and NEMA standards ... Photovoltaic test standard adopted by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .... Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Business Briefs Business news and announcements, including facility briefs, financial briefs, certification achievements, and distribution news. In this issue:  Guarantee Electrical Company acquires Kimsey Electrical Contracting, a division of Fischbach & Moore Electric ... KineticSystems Co., LLC buys data acquistion unit Gage Applied Technologies, Inc., from Tektronix ... General Electric turns further away from 'old line businesses' ... Western Distributor Platt Electric adds four brances ... ABB, Inc. modernizes controls in U.K. plant ... Call issued for GE Edison Award entries ..Financial Briefs  - A. O. Smith Corp ... Baldor Electric Co ... W.W. Grainger ... Sempra Energy  ..Edited by Kevin Jones, EA Senior Editor

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from November 2003 through June 2004... Edited by Joseph Hoff

• Training Briefs Announcements of workshops, seminars and instructional materials, and our Training Index, listing program topics featured in Training Briefs in the past year.    In this issue: Electronics and Drives from Drive Systems, Inc. - www.drivesys.net or www.electricaltrainingUSA.com ... Motion control, fluid power, electrical equipment troubleshooting, PLC's and bearings from The Motion Institute  ....EASA Spring 2004 seminars  - www.easa.com ... Motors and drives from Baldor Electric ... www.baldor.com/support ... Inverter, vector, servo and d-c drive basics seminar from Michigan Industrial Controls, Inc ... Electrical safety from Cooper Bussman ... Electrical maintenance, safety and telecommunications from AVO International Training Institute  ... Electronic thermal design web handling and converting, from Sensor Products, Inc.  - www.sensorprod.com 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.

• Question of the month - This month:  Are you seeing signs of recovery in electrical manufacturing? Answered by visitors to the manufacturing conference Xavier Vircondelet, Sarcel, Inc.  ... Loren Raschke, Kurz-Kasch ... Andreas Kress, Schuler ... Sabir Azizi, General Electric ... David Johnson, Regal-Beloit ... Jeffrey Hager, Martindale Electric  ... Ted Johnstone, Cogent ... Ramjit Harrilal, Rexel Mader Electric  ... Joe Schank, Shank Electronic Marketing ...

• 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.

• Automation briefs  - the latest in products for electronics and systems applications ... In this issue - this month in controllers - a graphical user interface programming environment from Z-World ... mini-PLC's from ABB SSAC .. industrial PC's  - industrial luggable programmable controller and panel PC from CyberResearch ... motion control moves ahead  - Python Motor Controller from Data Device Corp ... MagRes Magnetic Absolue Muli-turn Encoder from Baumer Electric ... multi-axis programmable controller from Nyden Corp ... ... data acquisition - from IOtech - thermocouple for up to 32 isolated digital I/O channels and 56-channel thermocouple input module ... new in customer education - the Profibus interface center will hold seminars to educated users and support vendors who are developing Profinet interface products (www.profibus.com ) ... Edited by David P. Tryling 

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. In this issue: Thread treatment stick brochure from Henkel Loctite Corp ... plastic and insulated metal staples from Gardner Bender ... Application guide for Raychem wiring harnessing and protection products from Tyco Electonics ... Process calibrators and test/measurement instruments from Transcat, Inc. ... Three-phase pad-mounted recloser from Cooper Power Systems ... grounding products and system brochure from Erico...  Edited by the EA staff

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

• Names and Faces ... In this issue: Dale E. Roethemeyer of Fasco Motors ... Vinod Kapoor and Leo Landers of Lincoln Electric Holdings ... Jim DeSmet of A-1 Servomotor Repair ...Carlo Lonardi of Harrington Hoists ... James J. Davis of Bicron Electronics ... Bob Freedman, Mike Miller, Gary Kajander of Elcon ... Gary D. Flick of Ametek Specialty Metal Products ... Scott Fuller of Post Glover ... JohnJ. McDevitt of Klein Tools ..Wayne Christic of Darby Electric ... Paula Pogge and Daniel Kent Parker - winners of scholarships from the Clifford H. "Ted" Rees Jr. Scholarship Foundation  Edited by Joseph Hoff

• Deaths  - Obituaries of industry people.

• Product briefs Photos and announcements of new products ... In this issue, Circuit interurupters - A class J time delay fuse from Cooper Bussmann ... Adhesives & Sealants - semi-solid stick form threadlockers from Henkel Loctite Corp and flexible polyurethane potting compound from Epoxies Etc. ... Enclorsures - tube enclosure cooler from Vortex ... flange-mounted stainless-steel disconnect enclosures and  explosion-proof instrument housings from Adalet ... Lubricants - lubricants and penetrants from WD-40 Co ... ultrasonic grease lubrication monitor from UVLM, Inc. ... Power quality - CleanSource battery-free UPS system from Active Power, Inc.  Edited by the EA Staff.

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

• EA reader at ease  ... Stories featuring unusual or interesting avocational interests of our readers. In this issue:  Tom Hannon, chairman of the Hannon Electric Co, and his antique carriages ...

  Do you know someone working in the electrical aftermarket with a hobby or interest that could be featured in "EA reader at ease"? Tell us who they are, what they do, and how we can contact them to find out more about their special passions. Send your suggestions to Electrical Apparatus, 400 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 900, Chicago, III. 60611; (312) 321-9440; Fax (312) 321-1288; e-mail eamagazine@barks.com .

• Braintrainers  Puzzles you and your colleagues can solve for fun and, if your answers are correct, for recognition in Electrical Apparatus.  by Lillian Nielsen, Special Correspondent 

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. In this issue: Industrial controls rose slightly in the 2nd quarter ... Women earn les then men ... Square D. and Allen-Bradley celebrate their 100th birthdays ... Britain publicizes a UK Commercial Research Firm ... NAM's "The Facts About Modern Manufacturing" . by the Editors

• Accounting for management  This issue: Operating a service business in tough times  - Reductions in indirect labor, utilities, insurance, and administrative costs can be a place to start  By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the recently published book, Steps to a Successful Service Shop.

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - Taking steps to prevent foot injuries ... Wherever one works, whatever the job, feet are constantly exposed ...  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "Applying electric motors in hazardous areas"

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

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

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

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

• Utility Briefs   .. Edited by Kevin Jones

• EMBR update  - changes to the Electromechanical Bench Reference 2003, the annual buyers' guide that readers received with their December 2002 Electrical Apparatus.  Following publication of the directory, corrections and additions appear in subsequent issues of the magazine. 

• Web briefs ...  Selected websites for the electromechanical specialist, annotated with details of especially valuable content  ..Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

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