INTRODUCTION 



THE following chapters on commercial electrical 

 testing, by Mr. E. F. Collins, Technical Super- 

 intendent of the General Electric Company's 

 Schenectady Works, cover a branch of engineering, the 

 study of which is of great importance at the present 

 time. The rapid growth of electrical engineering has 

 necessitated a corresponding development in testing 

 practice to keep pace with engineering and commercial 

 needs; and therefore a description of the arrangements, 

 methods and apparatus used by the Schenectady Works 

 of the largest electrical manufacturing company in the 

 world cannot but prove instructive, not only to the 

 engineering student, but also to all electrical engineers, 

 besides being of considerable aid to those schools and 

 colleges which give a course of instruction in electrical 

 laboratories. 



The testing department of a large company is, of 

 necessity, one which employs only those methods which 

 have been found by experience to combine accuracy, 

 efficiency and economy. The subject can be naturally 

 divided into two classes; viz., tests made to obtain 

 engineering information to serve as a basis for future 

 design or for other purposes, and commercial testing. 

 In the latter case, which forms the greater part of the 

 testing work, commercial considerations require that 

 each job be finished as quickly as possible. The machines 

 supplying power and the switchboards must therefore 

 be located and designed from this point of view, and all 

 connections and wiring laid out with the greatest 

 possible care. The personnel must be thoroughly drilled 

 and instructed in their work by experienced men, and 

 each job as it comes along must be assigned to a small 



III 



