Electrical and related buildings technology
Straight forward list of some common motor faults. If I have missed any other common faults, please take a bit of time to add them in as a comment below. read more..
Request to look at induction motor starting time have come up a few times on the site. Hopefully in this post, I give you guys some idea on how to calculate this. Failing that, hopefully at least som... read more..
Problems on achieving maximum voltage drop within an installation come up often. Depending where you live, local regulations will have different limits on maximum allowable voltage drop, however the int... read more..
A recurring theme on our forums is cable sizing. Now many installations are unique and require special consideration. However, a lot of the time things are just repeated. When looking at low voltage pow... read more..
Estimating maximum demand is a topic frequently discussed. Working out how much power to allow for a building can be very subjective . Allowing too much power results in additional equipment, increased ... read more..
Three phase systems are derived from three separate windings, either connected in delta or star (wye). Each winding can be treated separately, leading to the idea that the load in each winding can be vi... read more..
The inventor of the first visible light-emitting diode makes history again this year as it begins to show customers a 40-watt replacement GE Energy Smart® LED bulb available later this year or early... read more..
IEC 62305 'Protection against lightning' requires a risk assessment be carried out to determine the characteristics of any lightning protection system to be installed. There is a lot of hype about about... read more..
I've been considering a blog on the 110 or 230 Volt issue for a while. While browsing the Internet I came across a great summary by Borat over at engineering.com. He ... read more..
The new standard IEC 61439 replaces the old 60439. Compared to the old standard, the new 61439 is a more clearly defined and takes into account the assembly of pre-tested designs. .
Some key... read more..
It wasn't so long ago I was telling someone that I don't use rules of thumb as most things are easily calculated anyhow. As it turns out I last week I ended up using what can only be describ... read more..
The calculation of current in a three phase system has been brought up on our site feedback and is a discussion I seem to get involved in every now and again. While some colleagues prefer to remember... read more..
Power factor is the ratio between the real power (P in kW) and apparent power (S in kVA) drawn by an electrical load. The reactive power (Q in kVAr)...
For unbalance conditions the calculation of fault currents is more complex. One method of dealing with this is symmetrical components. Using symmetrical...
Low voltage (LV) switchrooms are common across all industries and one of the more common spatial requirements which need to be designed into a project...
I think this post is going to be helpful to several of our readers. While the IEC low voltage circuit breaker Standard [IEC 60947-2, Low voltage switchgear...
Using software in our work is essential for most of us and we are becoming even more dependant on it's use. While software is a great asset, many times...
Two driverless and solar power vans have departed from Italy on their way to China via the silk road. During the 13,000 kM trip the vans will drive themselves...
A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply. It is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electrical power, even in the event of failure of the...
The IEC publishes a series of documents and rules governing the preparation of documents, drawings and the referencing of equipment. Depending on country...
This article gives an introduction to IEEE 485 method for the selection and calculation of battery capacity.
Often us engineers get so bogged down in equations, using software, producing drawings and writing specifications that this becomes the sole focus. ...
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