In every haunted house, you’ll find automated props: chairs that rock on their own, slamming doors, rattling chains, drawers opening and closing as if by some supernatural force. These “tricks” enhance the “treat” of getting the life scared out of you. The process behind making a Halloween prop can be quite simple. Here is just ... Read More
It’s not every day that a 92-year-old founder of a global company comes to a sales meeting but that’s not unusual at WEG. This type of corporate culture defines the company and makes its customers eager to work with them. Whether it’s hosting backyard barbeques with executives or working side-by-side in the office, WEG has ... Read More
When selecting the right shampoo, what factors do you consider? Scent, ingredients, cost? How about packaging? That’s right, packaging. For the follicly-challenged, like myself, packaging may be a real decision maker. After all, luster, sheen and volumizing abilities are kinda lost on me. For most, packaging is an afterthought, if it is a thought at ... Read More
Drive or motor failures, lights flickering, analog signal variations and poor encoder count repeatability are all symptoms of electrical noise issues. Automated machinery is often the victim of electrical noise, and frequently also the source. Whether it’s electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI), there are many options available to reduce its effects. Both ... Read More
Several years ago I purchased a Wadkin lathe made in England in late 1964. It is equipped with a very special motor that is 220V, three-phase and 50Hz. Because of the special design of the motor, it has a long extended shaft that carries the four sheave pulley, and because I do not have three-phase ... Read More
You’ve probably seen and read way too many articles telling you to use variable frequency drives on your AC motors to save energy, reduce maintenance and lengthen motor life. This is not one of those articles. Instead, we’re going to show you just how to calculate whether or not a VFD makes sense for your ... Read More
When wandering the plant floor, keep an eye out for energy wasting machines. Those running conveyors, rattling pumps and hissing air lines on idle equipment not only raise the decibel level in the plant—they also waste energy. With proper monitoring and analysis, machine energy use can be optimized, and these energy saving measures will also improve ... Read More
Opening the hood of your car will reveal a mass of cables and hoses running around the engine block. Somewhere in there is an alternator, which helps keep your car supplied with electric power when it’s running. When an alternator goes bad, most mechanics will replace it with a used unit that has been remanufactured, ... Read More
Protective relays are specialized devices designed to sense abnormal conditions in electric power systems, commanding circuit breakers to trip or close when needed. These relays are absolutely essential to the reliable operation of the electric power generating stations, substations, transmission lines, and distribution systems that comprise any large-scale electric power grid; they are increasingly finding ... Read More
What happens to AutomationDirect.com products when they are taken out of the box? We asked you guys to show us what happens when our products leave the box and you get your hands on them. Honestly, the applications that our customers shared with us were amazingly awesome. We had several great videos submitted over the last ... Read More
