The solid-state relay may be the first choice, but the venerable electromagnetic relay offers attributes the SSR cannot provide and so may be the best solution. Everything is solid-state these days, right? Even that one holdover, the vacuum-tube magnetron at the heart of the home microwave oven, is seeing some early signs of competition from […]
Editor's Blog
Talk of EV fires still smolders
Leland Teschler • Executive Editor lteschler@wtwhmedia.com On Twitter @ DW_LeeTeschler The latest figures from the National Fire Protection Association show that only about 20% of all vehicle fires arise from problems in the vehicle electrical system—most fires have something to do with the fuel system. Seeing as electric vehicles will do away with problematic petrol, […]
Say goodbye to cross-country road trips
Leland Teschler • Executive editor Officials estimate it will cost $50 billion to field the chargers needed for the expected number of electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2030. But it’s possible that spending every penny of this amount won’t prevent the extinction of the cross-country road trip. Here’s the logic behind that statement: It’s […]
Why your local landfill won’t contain lithium batteries
Leland Teschler • Executive editor Consumers with an inclination toward sustainability have been bummed out over recent revelations that most of the plastics they have carefully separated, washed, and placed in recycling bins typically end up in the local dump. So it may come as good news that dead lithium batteries are increasingly likely to […]
How to electrocute yourself in a few easy steps
Here’s a fun project: Pop open an old microwave oven and scavenge the high-voltage transformer powering the cavity magnetron vacuum tube. Then use it to make yourself a Lichtenberg generator. But be sure there’s someone nearby to call an ambulance. Lichtenberg generators are used to create art and abstract objects by burning fractal patterns into […]
Now or later? No time for time-of-use energy savings
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor One of the big justifications for smart home electronics and internet-of-things pipe dreams is a concept called time-of-use electricity billing. Long used for industrial concerns, the plan is to bring TOU billing to households, so they’ll be charged more for electricity they use during periods of peak use, less for juice […]
All-electric Formula-E racing ramps up
The Formula-E championship is comprised of 13 races that take place in 12 cities across five continents. Season five kicked off in Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, December 16, 2018, and will take its final lap in New York City on Sunday, July 14, 2019. The next race takes place this Saturday, February 16, […]
Halt and catch fire: The perils of cheap PoE
Dave Jeskey tells an interesting story about what happened when an LED lighting company operated a few of its products in a test chamber. The RJ45 plugs, used for making a connection to a Power over Ethernet cable, melted. The RJ45 plugs came from Sentinel Connector Systems where Jeskey is director of sales and marketing. […]
The down side of free samples
If you’ve had hassles trying to get component samples for a project, you can thank the efforts of a few enterprising students for making your life more complicated. Here’s a microcosm of what has happened with sample parts: The folks at Texas Instruments once had a liberal policy about giving out free samples of the […]
Gallery: Technical highlights of the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo & Conference kicked off this week in Novi, Mich. near Detroit. Billed as a forum for electric, hybrid and plugin hybrid vehicle technology, it showcased technological developments along the supply chain including electrical powertrains and components, battery management systems, materials and equipment. Here are a few of the more […]
