Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

Long, long ago … in a galaxy far, far away …

Well, it was really about 40 years ago and around 700 miles from where I'm sitting right now. Anyway, I was employed by a water softener company in northern Indiana. I roamed the highways and byways of the Indiana and northeastern Illinois countryside, installing and repairing softeners in farmhouses, spec homes, and rural domiciles.

Across the street from my front porch sits a utility pole. The fuse for the transformer that feeds our part of the neighbor hood sits high atop it.

And at least once a month … our power would go out.

Surge protective devices (SPDs) are critical components of any commercial or industrial electrical system. SPDs guard equipment from the over-voltages that can result from lighting strikes or equipment operation. Without this protection, these short-term events can cause long-term – and expensive – damage. Choosing the right SPD requires knowing where the device will be applied, along with the appropriate size to meet application needs.

The need for surge protection isn’t a new issue for industrial facility managers. Transient high voltages have likely been damaging plant equipment since electricity was first introduced. But today’s digital equipment can be more sensitive to surge events than earlier analog versions. This is why it’s important to consider whether existing protection is adequate when upgrading connected motors and controls.

Have you ever caught yourself wondering why someone hasn’t invented a GPS that works indoors? Maybe it’s been during a rush through an airport or while wandering a hospital’s hallways trying to find a loved one’s room – or, maybe, just last week, trying to find where the mayonnaise was moved to in your local supermarket’s latest reorganization. We’ve got smartphone apps that can tell us the fastest way to drive across the country, so why isn’t there an app for navigating big box stores and conference centers?

One of the biggest advantages of LED lighting, beyond its exceptional efficiency, is the fact that, as many electrical engineers have said, it’s infinitely controllable. It is, after all, based on solid-state technology similar to computer chips.