From the monthly archives: April 2012

We are pleased to present below all posts archived in 'April 2012'. If you still can't find what you are looking for, try using the search box.

Arc Flash Calculations

By Steven McFadyen on 3/22/2012 6:14 AM

Working in the vicinity of electrical equipment poses an hazard. In addition to electric shock hazard, fault currents passing through air causes Arc Flash. To protect people a risk analysis on the ar... read more..


Windows Live Writer and myElectrical

By Steven McFadyen on 3/15/2012 7:27 AM

When making adding a Note to our site we have a great online WYSIWYG editor and things are pretty simple.  However, if you prefer you can write, manage and publish your posts using any external ... read more..


Tech Topics/Application Notes - Siemens

By Steven McFadyen on 3/13/2012 6:21 AM

There are a lot of interesting two page type notes on various medium voltage topics – switchgear, circuit breakers, bus systems etc. It is on the Siemens US site, so many of he note are IEEE/ANSI ... read more..


Hazardous Areas – IEC and NEC/CEC Comparison

By Steven McFadyen on 3/9/2012 11:39 AM

Depending where in the world you work, you are likely following one of two standards

  • International Electrotechnical Commissio... read more..


IEC 61439 Verification Methods

By Steven McFadyen on 3/3/2012 3:33 PM

The (relatively new) switchgear and control gear standard, IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies' has three methods which can be used to verify the characteristics of an assemb... read more..


Lead Acid Batteries

By Steven McFadyen on 3/3/2012 12:57 PM

Lead acid batteries are cost effect and reliable, making them suitable for many applications.This note examines topics of interest associated with the use of these batteriesLead acid batteries are co... read more..


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Periodic Electrical Installation Inspection – How Often?

How often installations are inspected is up to the owner of the installation, provided such durations do not exceed any regulatory maximums in force. ...

Capacitors - Energy Storage Application

Capacitors have numerous applications in electrical and electronic applications.  This note examines the use of capacitors to store electrical energy....

Standard Cable & Wire Sizes

IEC 60228 is the International Electrotechnical Commission's international standard on conductors of insulated cables. Among other things, it defines a...

Railway Electrification Voltages

This post is quick introduction and overview to different railway electrification voltages used in answer to a question sent in via email. While there...

Differential protection, the good old days

This morning I was explaining how differential protection works to a junior engineer. To give him something to read I opened up the NPAG (Network Protection...

Variable Frequency Drive

Variable frequency drives are widely used to control the speed of ac motors.  This note looks at the mechanisms which enable drive units to control the...

Robots - Interesting Videos

The robot folding towels post below was interesting enough at the time to post a link.  Recently I’ve come across a couple of other interesting videos...

Getting Started with Patents

If you have a great idea or invent something the last thing you want is someone to steal the idea. One of the things you can do is protect the intellectual...

Our internet address and Vanity URLs

Visitors who like to type web address rather then click menus may be interested in how our URL structure works.

Load Flow Study – how they work

A load flow study is the analysis of an electrical network carried out by an electrical engineer. The purpose is to understand how power flows around...

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