Visit Us At OLSA 2008

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:19:17 +0000

If you are within an afternoon’s drive of Marion, Ohio (just North of Columbus), you should consider attending the OLSA Equipment Show 2008.

People who have attended term it a “mini-ICUEE”, with a lot of the same truck and digger equipment on display outside. However, on the inside, you will find everything from safety to SCADA, and from test equipment to services. (Shewmaker Electronics, of course, will be there!).

This show is sponsored by the Ohio Line Supervisors Association and is ridiculously cheap to attend - FREE if you register on line before September 19, and only $5.00 on line afterwards or at the door.

Th Ohio Line Supervisor’s bi-annual show has always been well attended by utility personnel from Co-ops, Municipals, and Investor-Owned utilities. For this reason, the vendors on display really do a good job at having items on display you will want to see.

There is lots of lodging available within a 25 mile reach of Marion, and links for that lodging, as well as registration information, are available on line at www.Ohiolineshow.com.

See you in Marion September 24 & 25!

Shew

Field Testing of Regulator and Re-Closer Controls

Shew — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:31:50 +0000

Your utility is probably like most…you have a mix of controls in service from brand new to 30 years old – and a mix of brands depending upon who was low bidder or who was the specifying engineer at the time.

When you go out into the field to troubleshoot a voltage complaint, working with the older types (with knobs!) is pretty much the same no matter the age or the brand. The main question is: is it the control, or the regulator that has the problem?

However, with the newer microprocessor types, there are a lot of “gotcha’s!” Is there reverse power capability, do I keep getting tap position warnings? Are the programmed CT/PT ratios in my replacement control the same as what I am taking out of service?

These “gotcha’s” will often cause a return trip to a regulator if the field technician is not aware of them. Sometimes, these issues cause a good control to be sent in for repair when actually it was only a configuration issue that caused the regulator to mis-operate.

Every August, the Great Lakes Electric Meter School conducts a session on “Field Testing of Regulator and Re-Closer Controls” In this 4-day session, we look into those issues and provide training that will improve your troubleshooting efficiency in the field

I invite you to consider attending this year. For more information, please visit www.GLEMS.org.