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...
Voltage Levels – Confused?
I was having a conversation the other day about voltage levels. While everyone was in agreement that low voltage was 1000 V and less, there was more confusion...
How to Check a Circuit is Dead
If you want to check a circuit is dead (not live), you should always use the three point method. First check a known live circuit, then check the dead...
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...
Electromechanical Relays
Electromechanical relays have been the traditional backbone of electrical protection systems. While over recent years these have been replaced by microprocessor...
Understanding Circuit Breaker Markings
IEC 60947 is the circuit breaker standard and covers the marking of breakers in detail. Any manufacturer following this standard should comply with the...
Why a Sine Wave?
I received this question by email a few weeks. First thoughts was that it is a product of the mathematics of rotating a straight conductor in a magnetic...
Magicians of Engineering
The other day I was reading 'Night of the New Magicians' by Mary Pope Osborn with my son. The story is about a young boy and girl who travel back in time...
UPS Battery Sizing
Various techniques exist to enable the correct selection of batteries for UPS applications. The procedure described below is one of the more common. ...
Aluminium Windings - Dry Type Transformers
The other day I was talking to a colleague who is a building services consultant. Despite regularly specifying dry-type/cast resin transformers he was...