• Tests and troubleshoots the entire motor


• Inspects the entire motor


• Steam cleans and/or solvent cleans the armature


• Rewinds and dynamically balances the armature


• Checks the bearings on every motor


• Tests the encoder on every motor


• Checks for slippage on brake motors


• Tests magnet assemblies for proper torque output and remagnetizes in-house


• Records test data including winding waveforms, feedback signals, reverse generated voltage readings, shaft and encoder alignment data


• Replaces the lip seal it usually needs to be replaced even if the problem is elsewhere in the motor


• Verifies assembly tolerances


• Test runs the motor and verifies that vibration levels are within the manufacturer specifications


• Repaints the motor if its being

Unemployed?  If you are in construction or manufacturing, here's some good news.  According to CNN reports, in February construction jobs had the biggest one-month jobs gain in nearly four years – and it’s been a long darn four years for the construction industry which still has a jaw-dropping 21.8% unemployment rate. 

Manufacturing’s February increase was the strongest in 16 years, with a 9.9% current unemployment rate, only one percentage higher than the overall unemployment rate.

Many manufacturers are now saying they could increase production 50% or more if they could just find the workers.  They predict that the number of manufacturers with a large number of unfilled positions for skilled workers will likely double in the next five years!

Still, I keep hearing our manufacturing customers say they can’t find skilled workers and the ones they’ve got are great but they aren’t getting any younger.  If you are a middle-aged electrician, machinist, or welder you are probably still employed…if not, keep looking because there is an increasing demand and more companies are willing to invest  in training and education in new  technologies – they literally have to.

And what about the kids?  They’re spooked about getting jobs in manufacturing with worries that U.S. manufacturing has left for China and India.  From what I am hearing, this thought is more like an urban myth gone viral and could not be further from the truth.  Industry is literally getting desperate for young skilled workers to replace those that are aging out. 

There are, of course, irresistible temptations out there for young graduates – Google’s starting salary for new computer science grads is $100,000.  $100,000! For a kid who probably doesn’t even know how to balance a check book!  But if he or she can write great apps, Google will pay them even more and call them “rockstarninja” engineers. At that rate I guess they can hire someone to balance their check book.

Not everyone, or rather hardly anyone, was meant to be a “rockstarninja” engineer.  It’s totally cool to be a “rockstarninja” machinist, technician or electrician.  I don’t have a list of manufacturers hiring, but am happy to pass along some good news.  Worried about plant maintenance?  Visit this post and get some help with your plant maintenance.

Solar flares can cause damage to electronics as they did in 1989 but be reassured that both you and your electronic equipment are in no danger from this large and spectacular solar flare. It is big, but not that big.

Those of you that live in higher latitudes may be lucky enough to see an extraordinary display of aurorae (aka Northern Lights). Those of us in lower latitudes will just have to make do with photos of this beautiful phenomenon.

The potential for damage could change over the next few years, however, as our sun is entering into a more active phase. Larger solar storms induce huge currents in power lines overloading the grid which is precisely what happened in Quebec back in 1989.

That said, your electronic equipment is far more likely to be damaged from many other mundane causes here on earth. The electronic axis of evil – heat, moisture, and dirt are always busy causing mayhem and literally gunking up the works.

If that evil trio have damaged your industrial electronic equipment check out our website at www.acsindustrial.com for help or call our resourceful customer service team at 800-605-6419 where you can get assistance with circuit board repairs, power supply repairs, encoder repairs, servo motor repairs and much more.

Excitement is in the air! Spring is almost here and it it’s time for…wait for it, wait for it….no, not spring flowers, no, not baseball… it’s time for the Annual Science Fair!

This weekend I will be spending quality time with the youngest and smallest of my three buffalo, oops, I mean sons measuring and graphing the heat dissipation of various types of metal.  This will require a great deal of focus, patience, frequent snacks for the buffalo as all the brain-work will surely make him more hungry than usual, and some electronic  test equipment (not that I would ever borrow tools from work).

Much to the delight of the rest of the family, we will commandeer the kitchen, the oven (to heat the dang things), the dining room table, the computer, the printer and whatever else I haven’t thought of yet. 

It’s sounding a little complainy here, but in reality, this will be time well spent and I might learn a thing or two myself.  He’ll learn a good bit too including how to use electronic test equipment, how to persevere even when things don’t go quite as planned, how to track information accurately, how to present his findings in a clear and straight forward report…heck, sounds like he might make a good ACS electronic repair technician!

Consistent to the extent that it is better than in developing nations, but perfectly consistent? No. In the U.S. there is a voltage drop of about 3-15% from the point where the electrical service delivers the power to where the power is actually consumed within any given industrial facility, mainly due to wire impedance.

3-15% may sound inconsequential, but multiply this repeatedly and you start to get the picture. This is especially true for critical or highly sensitive machinery such as MRI and oncology equipment in medical facilities, and recording equipment.

Over time, voltage sags, surges, and variations cause equipment damage, diminish equipment life span, cause digital errors and memory reboots, and production delays which cost you more money by way of:

• Lost production/missed deliveries
• Quality problems
• Extra labor/overtime
• Scrap and rework
• Repairs for electronic equipment

Ask yourself two questions: What does it cost per hour when your system is down? How much will it cost to restart the system? That should tell you whether automatic voltage regulation is important to your operation.

Automatic voltage regulators (AVRs) come in too many sizes, types and applications to list them all. They can be as tiny as a component on a circuit board and as large as a tractor trailer. Voltage regulation is also the ultimate purpose of units referred to as power conditioners and usually combine that function with voltage drop compensation, surge suppression, short circuit protection, phase to phase voltage balancing, line noise reduction, harmonic filtering, and more.

To know which of the following sample of AVR’s you will need, you will definitely want to do your homework with your engineer, electrician, and sales reps:

• Ferroresonant transformer
• Forroresonant voltage regulator
• Tap changer
• Tap-switching voltage regulator
• Servo voltage regulator
• Servo voltage stabilizer
• Motorized variac
• Variable autotransformer
• Line drop compensator
• Step voltage regulator
• Electronic voltage regulator
• Constant voltage transformer
• Magnetic induction voltage regulator
• On-load tap changer

And that’s just some of the options.

By the way, we do not sell voltage regulator equipment. We do however repair industrial electronic
equipment and we see the results of this damage every day. We can repair your damaged equipment and are happy to do so, but we know you would much rather avoid preventable repairs.

If you find yourself in the aggravating situation of needing industrial electronic repair services such as power supply repairs, servo motor repairs, plc repairs, drive repairs, encoder repairs, circuit board repairs, cnc equipment repairs you can click on any of these links or call our helpful customer service reps at 800-605-6419. We are here to get you back up and running full speed ahead!

Could smudge marks on your touchscreen monitors leave you vulnerable to a security breach?  According to a University of Pennsylvania study it's true!  Researchers took photos of the smudge trails left on various touchscreens, digitally increased the contrast and found they could unlock secure touchscreens 92% of the time! 

I just checked out my new, totally cool android phone and sure enough, there are my paw prints leaving a "smudge trail" where I unlock the unit.  My phone is no big security breach, but this could affect touchscreen interfaces such as bank machines, voting machines, or any other public or industrial touchscreen requiring a graphical pattern password. 

While I wouldn't lie awake worrying about this, don't write it off either.  The underbelly of society seems to have no shame and no lack of perseverance in acquiring stuff that does not belong to them.  If you're using secure touchscreens in your business, consider switching to an alphanumeric password on a keyboard if possible.  Or, you can also have users wipe their hands across the screen a few times or use a touchscreen-appropriate cleaning cloth.

Researchers are now investigating other devices that may be susceptible and various other types of smudge attacks such as heat trails caused by the heat transfer of a finger touching a screen.  Something new to worry about...

If you are worried that your industrial touchscreen monitor needs repair, send it in to our expert tech team for a free evaluation and quote.  We repair most touchscreen, LCD and CRT monitors including Allen Bradley, ELO, Fanuc, LG, NEC, Microtouch, Okuma and many other touchscreen manufacturers.

The turn of the New Year is a very good time to take stock of your business from all angles, not just from the IRS angle.

It’s a good time to measure your success and to identify what you can do better in the coming year and to make specific plans to achieve those goals.

Customer service has always been National Circuit's number one priority. Whatever we can do to repair it faster, better, and for less money is where we shine our laser focus. To that end, in 2012 NC will be:

• Moving our entire electronics repair shop and staff to a superior facility with more space, better layout, better lighting, better everything so that we can better service your equipment!
• Adding new, dedicated test stations and cleaning stations to streamline the repair process and provide better testing capabilities
• Making additional investments in the latest test and repair tools for all of our technicians
• Completing our ISO 9002 Certification Plan

We wish all of you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2012!

As a reminder, National Circuit remains open for repairs during the week between Christmas and New Years. We know many of you may be implementing plant shutdowns for maintenance and our technicians are here to help with your industrial electronic repairs. If you need assistance, click on the following links to go directly to our website: Power Supply Repairs, Servo Motor Repairs, Servo Drive Repairs, Monitor Repairs, CNC Equipment Repairs, and Encoder Repairs.

Just got a question? Talk to our always-helpful customer service team at 800-605-6419.