When you get the call, “The motor won’t start,” you’d best have a logical and systematic plan in place to approach the problem. “Easter egging” just doesn’t work unless you happen to be very lucky!

Class A motorhomes and smaller campers typically run on both AC and DC power. The former is your electrical hookup at the campground. It runs the energy-demanding thing like your air conditioner, ...

Let’s face it: Diagnosing electric problems is a pain, to say the least. You can get far with a test light and your trusty digital multimeter, but you still might end up just throwing parts at the ...

If you are an electronic experimenter who cannot get his circuit working, this is for you. I really feel your pain as it brings back my own unpleasant memories – yes, we have all been there. Here are ...

Transmitter power is not the sole issue, but rather a combination of power and proximity. The lowly cell phone a few inches away may cause more problems than the broadcast transmitter a mile away. The ...

Like any equipment, each piece of a power distribution system has a chance of failing at some point. Even if installed properly, there are several factors that can cause failures, such as extreme ...

Apple's power adapters for its laptops can suddenly stop working. Here are some options you can try to overcome this. Topher, an avid Mac user for the past 15 years, has been a contributing author to ...

Experts explain how thermal imaging cameras can be used to debug complex circuit boards, a tricky, time-consuming part of medical device development. Jason Christensen and Andreas Pfahnl, ScD Figure 1 ...

In some power-supply applications, the pulse-width-modulator (PWM) controller is powered up from an auxiliary winding tapped off the power stages transformer (Fig. 1). This technique reduces power ...

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we presented a 3-phase, 480VAC motor circuit with its associated controls (Figure). We stepped through a logical, systematic approach to troubleshoot the main power ...