How do you know your electrical insulation system is effective?
Experts from ELTEK International Laboratories will take to the stage at CWIEME Chicago 2014 to raise awareness of the latest technical developments in electrical insulation systems testing.
Recent years have seen a steady tightening of environmental legislation, placing increasing pressure on manufacturers across the automotive, motor, transformer and power industries. New energy efficiency regulations, together with new technologies and materials, require new tests with ever smaller margins to ensure products are safe, legal and perform well.
“The electrical manufacturing landscape is changing so quickly that clients aren’t always clear about what tests they need to perform on their products,” says Ashley Reagan, lab manager at ELTEK International Laboratories. Her colleague in sales, Matt Marxer adds: “This is especially the case for the electric and hybrid vehicle sectors, which use relatively high frequencies and power levels that stress insulation systems more severely – and in less-than-typical ways.”
ELTEK International Laboratories, the world’s most trusted electrical insulation test provider, will use the upcoming CWIEME Chicago exhibition to raise awareness of electrical efficiency testing and what the results might be.
“When you manufacture an electric motor, for example, it’s not about looking at the ratings of component materials and throwing them together. You need to test to ensure all the individual parts work in harmony as an efficient whole,” says Reagan.
Reagan and her team pride themselves on designing tests according to clients’ unique applications and goals. “Manufacturers come to us looking to achieve certain thermal classes, meet certain industry standards or evaluate new combinations of materials. Improvement of processes and performance can also be achieved through a well-structured and goal-oriented test design. We can make that happen,” she says.
Globally renowned
ELTEK is the only electrical insulation testing lab in the world accredited by the IAS (International Accreditation Service, Inc). Its test data is accepted by every single authority in the world and its staff are recognized internationally as industry experts. “Most of the major certifying bodies around the world refer clients to us,” adds Reagan.
Many ELTEK employees are members of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) – and have helped to write and revise testing standards, not only in the US, but across the globe. Reagan, for example, sits on the IEC technical committee 112 for the evaluation and qualification of electrical insulating materials and systems, while Marxer is a member of the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) subcommittee D09 for Electrical and Electronic Insulating Materials. A significant number of ELTEK employees are also involved with ASTM and TTA (The Transformer Association).
Reagan and Marxer will present their topic ‘Electrical insulation systems – testing for optimal efficiency and results’ at the CWIEME Connect theater on Tuesday September 30 11:30-12:10. The speakers will also be joined by colleagues at the ELTEK booth (no. 1814) to answer questions on electrical testing throughout the two-day Chicago event.
Chloe Theobald, content manager at i2i Events Group, the company behind the CWIEME exhibition series says: “We are delighted to have such a prestigious organization such as ELTEK involved both in the exhibition and seminar program. We hope that visitors will make the most of this opportunity to pick the ELTEK experts’ brains on the test methods required to achieve the right levels of safety, efficiency, profitability and performance for their application.”
CWIEME Chicago – The Americas’ biggest showcase for the coil winding and electro-magnetic industry
Dates: September 30 – October 1, 2014
Venue: DE Stephens Convention Center, Chicago
Opening times: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Admission: Free
For more information and to register for the event, please visit www.coilwindingexpo.com/
