I was working on the construction of the French Chancellery building in Washington DC. I was up on a 12 foot ladder installing duct smoke detectors for the fire alarm system. 2 suites stop just below me to argue about the power to the residential unit kitchens. The argument became heated and continued for a long while. It was about a contract provision to supply receptacle outlets for small appliances that had been made in France. Those were not going to put up with 60 HZ power and some would be damaged if connected to 240 volts because at that time the standard voltage in France was 220. Now it is 230 volts so I may have gotten that wrong. The raised voices, as in close to yelling, beneath the bare concrete deck a few feet above my head got on my nerves so I tapped the American general contractor's superintendent on the shoulder with a piece of Styrofoam packaging and said "Do you know what an elevator motor generator is?" He glared at me and I said "Its a motor that turns an actual generator to produce DC current to operate an elevator with." Until rather recently, with the development of variable frequency drives, motors that had to be operated at varying speeds had to be DC powered. "Get a suitably sized AC synchronous motor, a 6/5 reduction gear, and the alternator that will produce the power they want and PLEASE take your argument out from under my work." Dammed if the Superintendent didn't get me a 100 buck (US dollar) bonus.
Last edited by Tom_Horne; 04/16/25 06:08 PM.
