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The Cutting Edge^™ November 2004

Research & Engineering

This article contains International Market Insight (IMI) that WMMA exporting members may find pertinent. The IMI says that a European standard for electricity companies allows them to put a huge surge through the power lines, while the standard for the equipment manufacturers says to build to withstand less than half the amount. Members should be aware of problems that could arise with product liability because of this situation.
High transient spikes can cause significant problems for variable frequency drives, programmable controllers, computers, and other sensitive electronic equipment. Makers of this type of equipment are most likely providing or requiring the end user to provide line chokes or constant voltage power supplies to protect from such problems...but members should be certain they are providing proper warnings in their warrantee to be protected from claims of failure due to high voltage spikes.
See the article for more details click here.

Table of Contents
Health Savings Accounts
Woodworking Equipment and Wood Product Global Trade Flows
2005 International Trade Opportunities
Quality of Electricity Problems in the European Union Cause Concern for Industry
Who Prints Your Hazard Warning Labels?
International Conferences in 2005 - Sponsored by Wood Machining Institute
Save the Date for the January 14^th Continuous Improvement Workshop