“Service factor” is an interesting motor rating that you will see on many motor data tags. It simply means how much additional “work” a motor can do or how much “load” it may be placed under for short periods of time without failure or overload. For example, the FLA or full load amps of the […]

Many in our industry can misunderstand the differences between temperature and heat, although these are related. Substances are composed of many moving molecules that change their speed as they release or gain heat. When we heat a glass of water in a microwave, its molecules start to move more quickly. The velocity increase results in […]

I got in one of these tiny torches the other day to experiment with brazing aluminum in tight spots, and one of the techs walked in and asked, “What type of torch is that?” I answered, “It's oxy/acetylene.” He picked it up and looked at it a bit, then asked, “Does that get hot enough […]