The average homeowner probably doesn’t think about the quality of the electrical power coming out of household wall sockets. But that’s not the case for large industrial facilities where capacitive, inductive, and non-linear electrical loads can be large enough to distort the ac waveform. In those cases, electrical power quality becomes an important measurement. Electric […]
Fluke test tools and protecting against arc flash
Fluke Corp. has manufactured electrical test and measurement instruments for decades, and these instruments have been well-known for accuracy, durability and great user-friendly interfaces. Maintaining those qualities, Fluke is now emphasizing electrical safety. This emphasis is apparent in Fluke’s new line of electricians’ hand tools, which are designed and built with the idea that after […]
The difference between spontaneous emissions and stimulated emissions
The terms spontaneous emission and stimulated emission sometimes get confused. The term thermal emission sometimes gets thrown into the mix as well. Here are the basic definitions to help sort things out and the procedures for measuring these parameters. When we speak of spontaneous or stimulated emissions we are referring to atoms whose electrons are […]
Electrical tester calibrator helps comply with new regulatory standards
The 5322A Electrical Tester Calibrator is a multi-device calibrator built to facilitate compliance with exacting international standards such as the UK’s BS7671 17th Edition, IEC/EN Standards, Australia and New Zealand’s AS/NZS 3000 and Chinese verification/calibration regulations for various electrical testers. The 5322A combines many functions into a single instrument, replacing discrete resistors, decade boxes, and […]
Mitigating ac motor-shaft voltage and bearing currents
Bearing problems are the greatest single contributing factor in motor failure. Often motor damage happens before bearing wear is noticeable. To avoid expensive repairs and costly downtime, early detection is essential. Proper installation of replacement bearings and correct lubrication are critical. It is well known that insufficient lubrication brings early bearing failure, but many maintenance […]
Testing Cat 5e unshielded twisted pair cable and Ethernet connections
Cat 5e (enhanced) cable is widely used in local area networks (LANs), telephone and video. It works well in applications that call for unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and telephone zone wiring in a star configuration. Two telephone lines can be run and two extra pairs are available for future use. Using modular RJ-45 connectors, a […]
Working with optical fiber
Optical fiber is actually a waveguide for light and operates in accordance with a principle known as total internal reflection. In contrast to electrical conduction, there is low loss and signals can be conveyed over considerable distances without amplification. Total internal reflection happens when a propagated wave strikes the boundary between two dissimilar materials, provided […]
Infrared cameras include Matlab, LabVIEW plug-ins
New Fluke RSE300 and RSE600 Infrared Cameras are said to be the first fully-radiometric, fixed-mount cameras from Fluke with advanced features including Matlab and LabVIEW software plug-ins to easily analyze thermal data. The RSE300 and RSE600 cameras continuously stream up-to-60 frames of data per second, allowing for detailed monitoring of temperature patterns and variances. With […]
A first: Meter measures ac current and voltage without touching conductors
New technology called FieldSense allows open-fork, current-measuring meters to take simultaneous voltage and current measurements — not just detection — without test leads. Developed by Fluke, the new T6 true-rms Electrical Testers, the first tools to use FieldSense technology, are now available at local distributors and retailers. While the technology in the T5 detects an […]
Handy test equipment for troubleshooting
Not all test equipment needs to be expensive. Here are a few helpful tools that won’t break the bank. Electricians doing residential, commercial or industrial work need to know with absolute certainty whether a wire or terminal is live and whether a given piece of electrical equipment is energized at the power input terminals. Usually, […]
