Focused on generating powerful connections for the future, NETA’s PowerTest Conference returned on February 28–March 4, 2022, with more all-new content, attendee options, and networking opportunities than ever. The PowerTest Conference is the premier electrical maintenance and safety conference. It is the largest annual gathering of NETA Accredited Company representatives and industry professionals and is supported by companies committed to …
Acceptance Testing Collaboration Leads to Improved Project Delivery
Nearly 70 percent of early equipment failures can be traced to design, installation, or startup deficiencies. That’s why it is so important to protect a data center’s investment in new equipment or systems with acceptance testing. A thorough check of electrical power systems and components before energization can uncover and help correct problems that otherwise would lead to project schedule …
Power Factor: Understanding the Difference Between DPF and TPF
People often refer to power factor without understanding that there are two types of power factor measurement, and it is important to understand the difference between them. If you have a power factor problem, it could mean you have: A power factor correction problem that requires adding (or taking away) capacitors A combination of a power factor correction problem and …
Medium-Voltage Circuit Breaker Condition Assessment
Circuit breakers are indispensable in any electrical power system. They are the only piece of equipment that can switch not only under normal load, but also under fault conditions. They must be able to reliably disconnect a faulty section from the grid as quickly as possible. Circuit breakers must be able to meet this requirement even after they have been …
Safety Testing of EV Chargers
Electric vehicles are prominently heralded as the trend of the future, a vital part of many planned economies’ efforts to combat global warming, widespread pollution, and the squandering of resources. But there has also been negative publicity over safety issues like car fires. The key to enjoying the best of both worlds — excellent performance under complete safety — is …
Safety
Safety is an important consideration for any workplace and for NETA Certified Technicians. ANSI/NETA MTS-2019 recognizes that an overwhelming majority of the tests and inspections carried out by NETA Certified Technicians are potentially hazardous. It is essential that workers are aware of the hazards involved with the tasks they perform. QUESTIONS What United States regulatory agency exists regarding workplace …
Performing Personnel Audits
They are called many things — observations, audits, assessments — but they are all intended to accomplish the same task: Evaluate the people in the field performing the task at hand. Generally, you observe an employee doing a task, then audit or assess whether performance of the task meets expectation. These inspections can be performed by any level within a …
Improving Safety in the Field
Becoming a great company doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it is about small, incremental steps as we progress down the road of becoming better and better at what we do and how we do it. This is the most critical as it relates to our safety processes and safety culture. It is important to note that the first step in making …
Sync Check Supervision
The purpose of the sync check function (25) is to ensure that the voltage magnitude, phase angle, and frequency of the generator (VX) and the utility system (VS) are within a set of acceptable limits before the generator is synchronized with the system via closing the circuit breaker that connects them (Figure 1). An improper sync can result in electrical …
A Safety Reminder
Summer is in full swing across the country, and I want to take some time to focus on safety. You’ll find many of our articles in this edition of NETA World revolve around some aspect of safety. Our cover story continues the discussion of the 2018 changes to the arc flash calculation process in IEEE 1584. (Editor’s note: Catch up …