It was a revelation when I first learned that people could own air compressors. That experience, as well as my experiences of learning that people can own power washers, power tools or power anything, really, was the impetus for the restructuring of my understanding of my parents’ abilities as handy people. I was always impressed by my mom’s thrift and my dad’s elocution, but it Continue reading
Imagine the following situation. You are the pilot of a commercial airliner on a sold-out flight. You are carefully monitoring all of the instrumentation in the cockpit, and so far the flight is going smoothly. Unbeknownst to you, though, a piece of a decrepit satellite that broke off in orbit is on a collision course with the body of your aircraft. The piece strikes the fuselage and causes a breach in the cabin. Immediately, the sensors in the cockpit indicate that there has been a loss in cabin pressure, and the passengers must be notified that they need to don their oxygen masks. You then make an Continue reading
Pressure switches are valued because of the control they give their operators over the systems in which they’re included. In an air compressor, for example, the pressure switch is triggered when the pressure within an enclosure reaches a certain reading, either activating or deactivating the equipment that causes compressed air to be forced into the enclosure. In such cases, the switch prevents the Continue reading
There are many different kinds of pressure switches. This is because there are many different kinds of applications in which the measurement and regulation of pressure is necessary. Consider the following examples. Suppose that you work for a company that sells propane gas to supermarkets and other outlets that vend smaller propane tanks to consumers. Because your company buys and stores propane in very large quantities, your company needs access to storage equipment that can accommodate your stock. The largest propane storage tanks can be tens of feet in length and can store very large quantities of propane. These large storage tanks are equipped with pressure switches and other equipment that helps monitor Continue reading