A new tool in the arsenal. I recently was doing some work with Leakage Current for medical equipment. The Hioki 3283 Clamp-on Leak Current meter was very useful. With a selectable high frequency filter, a MIN / MAX hold feature, a sufficiently wide jaw diameter, and 10 uA resolution, it was great to measure both ground currents as well as net currents across the phases and neutral. Highly recommended.
Month: October 2004
The Demise of Best Power
Kind of sad really. Read about it here. Best Power Technologies, of Necedah, WI was one of the early power quality success stories. I recall looking at one of their mid-80’s ferroresonant UPS that reminded me then (and now) of a guitar amplifier – electronics / controls up top, that big ferro-transformer in a separate enclosure down below. At the time, as an R&D engioneer for a competitor, we had our own small UPS models under development. And over the years I have specified, worked with, monitored, and otherwise run across dozens of these units. In my recent office move I threw out a folder full of manuals and installation instructions from old projects and old clients.
As is usually the way when large corporations buy out a smaller competitor, Best Power died a slow death through purchases by General Signal, then by PowerWare, which is now a subsidiary of Eaton Corporation. The Necedah plant, which once employed more than 1000 people, was down to 120 and only occupied 15% of its building at the time the closure was announced. Once can only imagine the impact that sort of gradual decline has on a local economy.
Not to say that Best Power’s ferro-based technologies were not going to die out eventually from obsolenscence. But long before APC was a UPS juggernaut, Best Power was one of the brightest stars in the industry, and its passing should be noted.