Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was born exactly at midnight on July 10, 1856 in the tiny village of Smiljan, Lika in Croatia. In his late teens, Tesla left the village to...
Low Voltage Circuit Breakers
Circuit breakers are switching devices whose primary function is to isolate parts of an electrical distribution system in the even of abnormal conditions...
110 or 230 Volts
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...
Generation of a Sine Wave
A fundamental concept behind the operation of alternating current systems is that voltage and current waveforms will be sinusoidal – a Sine Wave. This...
IEC 60287 Current Capacity of Cables - An Introduction
IEC 60287 "Calculation of the continuous current rating of cables (100% load factor)" is the International Standard which defines the procedures and equations...
Understanding electric motor insulation & temperature
Anyone specifying or using electric motors should have a basic understanding how the insulation is related to temperature. Three classes of insulation...
Bows and Arrows
It starts with me reading one of the Horrible History books with my son (Groovy Greeks). Arrows were mentioned which lead to the discussion of the bodkin...
DC Motor Operation
Coils of wire on the rotor carry a d.c. current which generates a magnetic field. A stator magnetic field is created using either permanent magnets or...
Induction Motor Equivalent Circuit
Induction motors are frequently used in both industrial and domestic applications. Within the induction motor, an electrical current in the rotor is induced...
Power Transformers - An Introduction
One of the fundamental requirements of an alternating current distribution systems it to have the ability to change the magnitude of voltages. It is more...