Electrical Apparatus
The Magazine of Electrical &
Electronic Application & Maintenance

May 2004 Columns and Departments

Items in columns and departments from the May 2004 issue, Vol. 57, no. 5, © 2004 Barks Publications, Inc. See also  May 2004 Table of Contents and Previous issues 

• Editor's Comment Perspective on current and upcoming issues.  In this issue: Remembering Fran Powers, former Advertising Manager for Electrical Apparatus ... An important year for the United States and for the Electrical Apparatus Service Association ... The importance today of updating accounting ... Following the Ladies Professional Golf Association ... by Horace B. Barks, Executive Editor

Francis J. Powers,
former Advertising Manager
of Electrical Apparatus,
and his wife, Bernadette

• 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: Shaft oscillation could be caused by fans ... What is a spread voltage rating? ... Removing moisture from breaker arc chutes .. Do space heaters need to operate continuously? ... Will excessive windage limit motor overspeed? ... Why the unequal current in paralleled cables? ... Reverse rotation may mean more than a fan change ... Grease compatibility may matter in seals, too .. The meaning of pilot duty for contacts ...What hipot level for d-c motor windings? ... How is core steel content related to stack length?  ...Finding a location for vibration sensors ...    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  - 'Professional' engineers, from David E. Mertz, P.E., Burns and McDonnell, Chicago Office, Oak Brook, Illinois ... A crusher duty disagreement, from Ken Schmanski, Senior Engineer, WEG Motors and Drives, Suwanee, Georgia ... Cable length and soft starters, from Jeff Raefield, Phasetronics/Mototraonics Regional Manager, Clearwater, Florida ... Kind words, from F. Lee Bonder, Owner, Bonder Pump Repair Company, Geneva, New York ...

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:  Martindale Electric acquires Diamond D. Products, a division of the Smith Group,Inc. ...Volland Electric buys Dynamic Control Solutions, Inc.,  ... Special Electric Co sells its Hilec subsidiary ... International Motion Control buys two control businesses from Concentric Controls of Aston England ... The Robotic, Automotive and Manufacturing Group of Swiss manufacturer ABB signs automotive robotics partnership with Braintech, Inc. ... Anatech Ltd. expands its thin films division ... U. S. Dept. of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory helps to bring nuclear reactors built under the Soviet Union up to western standards ... Flywheel maker Pentadyne in European distribution pact with EUS GmbH ... Certification Briefs: East Penn Manufacturing Co and Rockwell Automation ...Financial Briefs Minarik Drives' sales up 33%   .... 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: "Safety on the Job" Kids' Poster Contest, sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers  - Deana Simons' winning entry is pictured at right ... Now you can get UL codes and standards by email -  the contact form pops up automatically when entering the "Regulators" page on the UL Internet site www.ul.com/tca ... The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute gives up its legal challenge to a U. S. Department of Energy rule ... The Environmental Protection Agency publishes its final rule on refrigeration recylcing ... The National Association of Manufacturers revises its website at www.nam.org and includes links to NAM member allied associations ... The National Association of Electrical Distributors Channel Advantage Partnership endowment fund has reached more than one million dollars ... Coming event:  Refrigeration Service Engineers Society annual conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada - email res@successexpressmp.com  ...  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.

• Standards briefs  In this issue: The National Electrical Manufacturers to study the feasibility of a  single global international motor standard ... PVC conduit standards are issued by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association ... The National Fire Protection Association is soliciting proposals for changes in NFPA codes and standards ... UL fuse standards adopted by the American National Standards Institute...   Edited by the Electrical Apparatus staff. 

• Trilingual summary For our international readers, each month one featured topic is presented in French, Spanish and German. This month: "The use (and misuse) of 'voltage testers'" - Phase reversal may produce excess stress .. by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., E.A. Engineering Editor

• Say It Right ... The popular column about language in the workplace. In this issue - No standard definition of "standards" - What's 'standard' to a distributor may not be standard to a manufacturer ... by Richard L. Nailen, P.E., EA Engineering Editor

• Safety and health in the workplace This month - The alarming gap in forklift safety Disagreement over how best to ensure forklift safety has led to a curious absence of safety standards.   By Richard B. Elsberry, EA Contributing Editor

• Accounting for management  This issue: Getting more out of financial statements   To get to the root of business problems may require digging more deeply than you're accustomed to By William H. Wiersema, CPA, EA Contributing Editor and author of the recently 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, Let's Solve Your Problem - Volume III.

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• Names and Faces ... In this issue: Ben Cook of Dräger Safety ...Susan C. Curry of Interconnect Devices ... Silvio Annunziata, David Bogosian, Paul Hughes, and and (pictured) Oscar Ibarra and James Vaccaro of Cooper Wiring Devices ... Harrington Hoists and Cranes' Eiji Yoda and Scott D. Miller ..EASA's  newly elected officers Art Anderson, Bill Nielsen and Brian Gibbon (below) .. also George Stratton and Kevin J. Miller ... Edited by Sarah E. Wittliff

• Deaths  - Obituaries of industry people.  In this issue, EA's ad manager Fran Powers (pictured at the top of this page with his wife, Bernadette ... Gary Thurston, owner and operator of Electric Motor Rewind  ... Anthony Sorchy, National Service Manager for Leeson Electric ... K.A. Stratton, former EASA president ... Carl Richards, co-founder of Richards Electric Motor Co ....

• 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: Cold spray technology from The Thermal Spray Society of ASM International  - www.asminiternational.org/events ... Motor/generator rewinding from Jarsco Engineering Corp - jaoliver003@aol.com ... Relay testing from Megger - relay-conference@megger.com ... Overcurrent protection from Cooper Bussman - www.bussman.com ... Variable-torque drives from Yaskawa Electric America - www.yaskawa.com ... Safety seminars from Behavioral Science Technology - www.bstsolutions.com ... ...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.

• EA reader at ease  ... Stories featuring unusual or interesting avocational interests of our readers. In this issue ..  Brandi Jackson will begin her rookie year on the LPGA Tour with her father, former Darby Electric customer service rep Terry Jackson, as her caddy.  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 .

• Calendar Briefs - Upcoming trade shows, symposia, and events, from May 2004 through October 2004... Edited by Sarah E. Wittliff 

• Literature Announcements of guides, catalogs, brochures, product specifications and other literature. In this issue ...technical publications for the scientific and electrical engineering communities from the IEE, Britain ... A-C and D-C Motors and Drives Catalog from Minarik Drives ... Workspace and storage products from Lyon Workspace Products ... fuse cross-reference from Cooper Bussmann, available online @ www.cooperindustries.com ... Residential and commercial-duty pump motors from Emerson Motor Technologies ... heat producing and thermal sensing products from Durex Industries ... Stainless-steel motors, gearmotors and gearboxes from Leeson Electric ... Identification and labeling products from Tyco Electronics ... industrial motor and drives catalog from Rockwell Automation ...   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.

• Electropix  Photographs of people, places, equipment and more ... In this issue, 3 kinds of electric racing - the Dago Red team from San Jose California, winner of its fifth National Championship .. the solar race team from North Dakota State University in the 2003 American Solar Challenge ... The Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet at Bonneville Salt Flats ...

• Product briefs Photos and announcements of new products ... In this issue, black epoxy potting/encapsulating compound from Epoxies, Etc., ... Vortex Coolers ... Twister Pro twist-on wire connector ...Micro Plastics locking wire and cable holders ... Tyco Electronics finger-probe resistant power connector ... Olflex VFD Slim shielded cable ... Lapp USA pin and sleeve power connectors ... Type EZS conduit selaing fittings from O-Z-Gedney ... polyethylene hanking cable tie from Richco, Inc. ... electrical connectors from Del City ... portable data-logging system from Logic Beach ... coulometric Karl Fischer test set ... Argo Luxeon LED headlamp ... In-use weather protective covers for wiring devices from Cooper Wiring ... Transient voltage surge suppressors from Superior Electric ... DirtyDuty WD washdown duty motors from Baldor ... Manual, visual and audible alarms and loudspeakers for hazardous areas from MEDC International ... ConnectGlow three-wire lighted electrical connectors ... Fingerless anti-vibration gloves from Magid Glove and Safety ... interactive animation illustrating operation of a four-pole brushless d-c motor from Servo Magnetics - http://www.servomag.com/flash/4-pole/smi-motor007.htm ... Preventative maintenance software from Link It Sofware Corp ...a-c induction motor selector from Rockwell Automation ... Illuminated pushbutton switches from Shogyo International Corp ... environmentally sealed limit switch from Honeywell ...  ... 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: The Northeastern power blackout could have been prevented ... Removal of equipment to generate reactive power ... Electrical equipment inventories have begun to climb ... Seniors are the most "spam-savvy" ... Laptop theft of data is becoming a major problem ... Being a CEO isn't what it used to be ...  .. by the Editors

• Utility Briefs   .. Edited by Kevin Jones

• 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.

  "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 ...   Edited by David P. Tryling 

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

• 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. 

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