Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

April 2004 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the April 2004 issue, Vol. 57, no. 4, © 2004 Barks Publications, Inc. See also  April 2004 Table of Contents and Previous issues 

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues.  In this issue: Listening to and exchanging ideas at conventions and trade shows ... Faster emergency responses ... Selling quality before price ...Coming in EA's next issue ... by Horace B. Barks, Executive Editor

• 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: Can explosions damage explosion-proof motor? ... The meaning of over temp markings on nameplates ... Should double-shielded bearings be relubricated? ... Can corrosion testing determine enclosure life? ... Does thicker insulation raise winding temperature? ... How much lamination flare is allowable in stator? ... Dealing with overheated terminal lug joints ... What does 'apparent efficiency' mean? ... An old question:  a-c vs. d-c hipo0t ... Outlet air temperature to monitor winding .. How is moisture getting into bearings?   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  - Find rotor bar defect, from Charles J. Sorce, Quality Assurance Technician, Amtrak Wilmington Shops, Wilmington, Delaware ... Breaker lubrication, from Michael K. Toney, Manager, Electrical and Safety Systems Engineering, Lyondell Equistar, Channelview, Texas ... EA as a teaching aid, from Dave Shaw, Tusko Sales and Service, Inc., Akron, Ohio ...

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. In this issue:  P. D. George buys Ranbar Electrical Insulation Division of Manor, PA. ... Eaton Corp. wins $14 million contract for Terminal 5 expansion project at Heathrow Airport, London ... Circuit Assembly Corp. of Irvine California is now marketing to Europe ... Houston based distributor Hisco is made an authorized distributor of DuPont Nomex brand insulation products.... IceSolv cryogenic firm, Palmyra, PA., has been bought by nuclear servicer Babcock Services, Inc. of Richland, Washington ... Power Measurement of Victoria B.C., acquires the retail energy business of ABB, formerly Energy Interactive, Inc. of Oakland, California ... Molex, Inc., of Lisle, Illinois buys the firmware based protocol conversion business of Strategis Technologies ... ETCO, INc., of Warwick, Rhode Island, opens a warehouse and distribution center in Hong Kong ... NKK Switches of Scottsdale Arizona expands its distribution agreement with Future Electronics ... Standard Electric, Wilmington, Mass., expands into southeastern Massachusetts ... Certification Briefs - certification news about  Hernon Manufacturing, PowerTran Co., Inc., Sealant Equipment & Engineering, Inc., The National Service Center of Kansas City, Mo., and Wall Colmonoy, Corp ...  .... 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 issue: Electrical Apparatus Service Association touts EASA 2004 Show ... National Institute of Standards partners with the Motor Resource Center (Advanced Energy Corp. and Washington State University Extension Energy Program) to study "which is better, a new or a used motor?" ... 2004 Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Exposition in Anaheim, California sets attendance record.... After 24 years, the International Energy Agency Heat Pump Program returns to US - Info @ www.ornl.gov/hp2005 ... National Association of Electrical Distributors begins program to help members manage its two-year Electrical Products Education Course ... Refrigeration Service Engineers Society opens online career hub for refrigeration engineers @ www.rses.org ... The Association for Facilities Engineers marks its golden anniversary ... American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation extends its Liberty Mutual Research Institute ...  National Association of Manufacturers want growth, but not in China ...  Edited by the EA staff

  Note:  the 2004 EMBR lists contact information for more than 140 associations ... Update or add your listing to the 2005 EMBR.

• EA reader at ease  ... Stories featuring unusual or interesting avocational interests of our readers. In this issue ..  Sarah Murphy, who owns Cheyenne Electric Motors in Las Vegas, sidelines as an artist in the tradition of Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock in favoring abstract expressionism in her renderings of faces and angels.  By Joseph S. Hoff, EA Special Features Editor.

  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 .

• Standards briefs  ...In this issue: The International Electrotechnical Commission repots less IEC standards development time in 2003 ... New electrical standards from International Electrotechnical Commission ... American National Standards Institute adopts terminal block standards ... Industrial Fasteners Institute releases new inch-series fastener standards edition ...   Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• 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: Dynamic Balancing public training course offered by IRD Balancing LLC  - www.irdbalancing.com ...  Motor application and repair course from the Electrical Apparatus Service Association, www.easa.com ... Motor/generator rewinding three day seminars from Jarsco Engineering Corp, jaoliver003@aol.com ... Overcurrent protection seminar from Cooper Bussmann, www.bussman.com or mfinch@buss.com ...  Relay Testing three day conference from Megger - relayconference@megger.com ...  Variable torque drives training classes from Yaskawa Electric America - www.yaskawa.com ... Safety seminars from Behavioral Science Technology - www.bstsolutions.com/leadingwithsafety.htm ... Shutdowns, turnarounds and outages from New Standard Instutitue - www.newstandardinstitute.com ... Infrared training certification from www.infraredtraining.net ... ...Edited by Sarah E. Wittliff 

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

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from April 2004 through October 2004... Edited by Joseph Hoff

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "The trouble with plugging " - Phase reversal may produce excess stress .. by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., E.A. Engineering Editor

• Accounting for management  This issue: Is now the right time to buy a business?   Any time is right when both seller and buyer are willing. 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 - Helping employees survive a heart attack A modest investment in an automated external defibrillator just might save a life  By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Utility Briefs  This issue: Cooper Power in venture with Telemetric Corp. of Boise, Idaho, to manage distribution ... Grand River Dam's metering system upgraded with an enterprise energy management system from Power Measurement ... Sempra Energy Partners partners with private equity fund Carlyle/Rivertone to acquire 50/50 ownership of American Electric Power power plant in Goliad County, Texas ... .. Edited by Kevin Jones

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• Names and Faces ... In this issue:  Susan W. Graham of P. D. George Company ... Daniel J. Hilinski of Cooper Wiring Devices ... Jay Bileti, John Cleveland and Keith Watson of Power Measurement ... Daniel Dupre of IPC Resistors .. Nikhil Koratkar, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ... Wade Malcolm of EPRI World wide Holdings ... Jeff Wraley of Kirby Risk Corporation ... Mike Vissers and Brian Nowak of Kurz Electric Solutions... Frank Kitzantides of the Standardization Management Board and International Electrotechnical Commission ... Mike Orcutt and Wayne Glenn, of John C. Dolph Company ... Eric Bogatin, of Synergetix ... Edited by Sarah E. Wittliff

• EMBR update  - changes to the Electromechanical Bench Reference 2004, the annual buyers' guide that readers received with their January 2003 Electrical Apparatus.  Following publication of the directory, 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. In this issue - Gulping office electricity at night ... Firing or "administrative termination"? ... Moving?  17% do so every year ...

  "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. 

• Automation briefs  - the latest in products for electronics and systems applications ... In this issue:  d-c speed controls from Minarik ... encoders from the Encoder Products Co ... integrated servomotor from Aninmatics Corp ... five phase stepper motors from Nyden Corp ... data radios from Omnex Control Systems ... power supply from Teledyne Instruments ... NetSight II from Ipd ... analog inductive sensor from Baumer Electric ... CANbus website @ www.can-cia.org/can/protocol ... reversible data collection terminal from Saelig Company ...  Edited by David P. Tryling 

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. In this issue ...metalworking machinery tools and shop supplies catalog from Enco ... wiring accessories brochure from Nelco Products ... Emergency and standby generator capabilities brochure from Baldor Electric ...spool guns for aluminum welding publication from Lincoln Electric ... high-density storage and retrieval systems bulletin from MegaStar ... industrial controls catalog from ABB ... motors, gear motors and reducers product specification guide from Multi-Tech ... Permanent magnet materials catalog from Master Magnetics, Inc. ...process calibrators and test/measurements instruments catalog from Transcat,Inc. ... Vibration control technology brochure from Martin Engineering ... medium voltage solid-state motor starters brochure from Motortronics ...   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.

• Product briefs Photos and announcements of new products ... In this issue, clear, solvent-free polyethylene conformal coating from Epoxies, Etc. ... Two-component epoxy adhesives and two-component nickel conductive epoxy adhesive from Master Bond, Inc. ... tagging relays from Electroswitch ... fusible panelboards from Ametek Solidstate Controls ... dual-voltage d-c drives and dual d-c motor control from Minarik ... interconnections from Erico, Inc., Ideal Industries, Bridgeport Fittings and Anderson Power Products ... infrared inspection system  from Flir Systems ... Shaft horsepower/kwhr meters from S. Himmelstein & Co ... IEC-frame stainless steel metric motors from Lafert North America ... automated hipot testers from Associated Research ... protective relay test set from Megger ... motor current signature analysis system from BJM Corp .. VLF/thumper cable fault locator from High Voltage ... environmentally sealed limit switch from Honeywell ... hand conduit benders from Gardner Bender ... cable tie dispenser pouch from Thomas & Betts Corp ... custom-designed low-noise toroidal transformers from Bridgeport Magnetics ... closed-loop linear current sensor from Honeywell ... ventilating blower assemblies for d-c motors and electrical enclosures from Wayne Products, Inc. ... Engraved aluminum identification tags from Almetek Industries ...  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, 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.

• Direct and Current Breaking news of interest to the industry, from The Editors of Electrical Apparatus. In this issue: New Federal Communications Commission fax marketing rules ... regulations for commercial motor vehicle drivers ... health savings accounts ... employee benefits to same sex couples ... fuel cell research ... anti spam tests  .. by the Editors

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

• Web briefs ...  Selected websites for the electromechanical specialist, annotated with details of especially valuable content .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.

• Deaths  - Obituaries of industry people.

• 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 

• Question of the month

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

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

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

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