Lightning and BIL
Lightning strikes on power systems are common. A storm is overhead and lightning attempts to find the easiest pathway to ground. This...
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Electrical Design Tips & Articles
Breaker & Fuse
Jul 7, 20223 min read
Motor Starting and Inrush
General - Motors are magnetic devices. They rely on the interaction between magnetic fields to create rotation. Before this rotation...
May 31, 20222 min read
Medium Voltage Design Example
Determining the ampacity of conductors is never easy. There are a lot of factors to consider, including derating and overcurrent...
May 31, 20222 min read
Feeders and Branch Circuits (NEC 210 and 215)
At the highest level, we could break electrical circuits into 2 categories: branch circuits and feeder circuits. Branch circuits describe...
May 26, 20222 min read
Electrical Engineers vs. Electricians
What's the difference between an electrical engineer and an electrician? I can't tell you how many times I've heard that question. It's...
May 26, 20223 min read
Shock Hazards (Dalziel's Formula)
Electricity is dangerous-plain and simple. The world has become electrified and electricity has almost universally improved the standard...
May 26, 20223 min read
The Arrhenius Equation and Cable Lifespans
The Problem - Consider this hypothetical example: an XHHW-2 circuit is designed for operation at 90°C. The engineer or designer believes...
May 26, 20224 min read
Transients
What are Transients? - Transients describe the behavior of a circuit before it reaches a steady-state condition. This means that some new...
May 26, 20222 min read
Working Space (NEC 110)
Designing and building a good electrical power system is about more than just making sure that all of the studies turn out okay. A common...
May 26, 20223 min read
Engineering Ethics
Introduction - If you take a college ethics class, chances are you'll be learning about philosophers and the abstract ideas. My purpose...
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