WHITE PAPERS



White Papers and Technical Articles
9/2011 Using AC Sources for Compliance Testing
Due to international safety agency standards, electrical safety tests are an essential part of the design and manufacturing process if a company wishes to sell products into the EU or affix a safety agency mark to their products for sale domestically. Dielectric withstand (hipot) testers are perhaps the most commonly used instruments, as international safety agency specifications usually call for a hipot test to be performed as a 100% production line test. This whitepaper discusses the advantage of using an AC Power Source for your compliance testing. 		pdf file 161 KB
6/2011 To Float or Not to Float? Analysis of a floating vs. grounded output
Grounding electrical circuits is necessary for safety in the event that a fault occurs within the system. However, grounded systems can present their own set of problems. Small differences in potential within a grounding system can cause ground loops and these loops can have adverse effects ranging from data loss to presenting a severe safety hazard. This paper discusses the benefits of using a power source that gives the operator the flexibility of choosing either a grounded or floating output reference. 		pdf file 111 KB
4/2011 Total Harmonic Distortion and Effects in Electrical Power Systems
Power sources act as non-linear loads, drawing a distorted waveform that contains harmonics. These harmonics can cause problems ranging from telephone transmission interference to degradation of conductors and insulating material in motors and transformers. Therefore it is important to gauge the total effect of these harmonics. The summation of all harmonics in a system is known as total harmonic distortion (THD). 		pdf file 62 KB
2/2011 Why Making the Move from a Variable Transformer to a VariPLUS is the Right Decision
No matter what the industry, advances in technology continue to improve the way that companies do business. Manufacturers of electrical products should expect no different. 		pdf file 161 KB
9/2010 Exploring the Benefits of Advanced AC Power Source Technology
Versatile test equipment proves to be one of the most valuable investments that electrical product manufacturers can make. This whitepaper discusses incorporating Modular AC Power Sources into a company's current mix of test & measurement equipment. 		pdf file 83 KB
5/2010 Understanding the Difference between Resolution and Accuracy Description
This whitepaper discusses the difference between Resolution and Accuracy as it pertains to electronic equipment and ac power sources. 		pdf file 25 KB
5/2010 True vs. Apparent Power
This whitepaper defines the difference between True Power and Apparent Power and explains the various aspects of power. 		pdf file 194 KB
4/2010 Power Factor vs. Crest Factor
Two critical quantities to specify when dealing with AC power sources are the power factor (PF) and the crest factor (CF). This paper will define each metric and explain how they relate to electrical systems. 		pdf file 183 KB
3/2010 Power Factor Correction
This whitepaper discusses power factor correction (PFC), which is a commonly employed method to reduce harmonic distortion and increase efficiency in an AC power source. 		pdf file 106 KB