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A relay is basically a switch but not like a switch that's on a wall. A wall switch relies on
someone to flip it which will then control a light or some other type load. A relay is switched
by electrical power and not a human. This is done by energizing a coil which is internal to
the relay and by energizing the coil, the relay changes state just like a wall switch would.
Therefore when you energize a relay, you are switching circuits off and on.
Relays have many purposes and are used in a variety of ways such as electronic circuit
boards, machines, appliances, automobiles and the list can go on. The main purpose of a
relay is to switch electrical circuits off and on at given times and allow circuits to be
automated. A great advantage with relays is the ability to switch many different circuits of
different voltage types all at once by using the same relay.
Wiring Relays
Although relays come in a huge variety of designs, shapes and sizes, They all basically work
with the same concept. I'm going to be covering some industrial relay logic and the images you
see here are some of the most common types used for industrial controls also called machine
controls.
These images show a square 3-pole relay and it's socket on the left and a round 2-pole relay and
it's socket on the right. The socket is used to connect your wires to the relay. This particular relay
with 3-poles means you have 3 separate switches or what we'll call contacts.
3 Common
3 Normally Closed
3 Normally Open
2 common
2 Normally Closed
2 Normally Open
And So On.
The square relay pinout shows how the relay socket is configured for wiring. This pinout image
is only a 2-pole diagram for room on the page purposes, but you can get the picture here with this
one since a 3-pole will just have 1 more set of contacts. As you can see, there is absolutely no
difference between the square type and the round type other than the ratings on the relay.
Otherwise they work exactly the same.
So when wiring up these relays, the coil wire's will connect to pins 2 & 7 on the socket.
See my Switch Terminology Page for more on contact arrangements if you need to.
By looking at the diagram below we can go through the basic concept of a relay and how they
operate. This diagram will show you how simple it is to control motors, lights, valves, other
relays and any type load you want. In this example we are simply turning on a light.
Let's say were using household voltage in this circuit which is 110/120 Vac. L1=Hot and
L2=Neutral. Just like basic house wiring, we always want to control (switch) the hot wire. So as
you can see below, L1 goes down into a normally closed switch. This means the current travels
through that switch until it see's an open switch and cannot go any further. In this case L1 is hot
all the way to the START switch. When the start switch is depressed, L1 now goes to the relay
coil MCR (Master Control Relay) and energizes the coil. Now the (2) MCR contacts which are
normally open as shown will now close. This allows current flow through the contacts and
energizes the light.
Now that the contact below the START switch is closed, you can now release the START switch
and the current flow goes around the open START switch, through the contact to keep the relay
coil energized which also keeps the light on. Now to turn the light off, you simply depress the
STOP button and this will open the circuit to the relay, de-energizing the coil. The relay contacts
open to their normal state and stop the current flow to light. Once you let off of the STOP button
the circuit is back to it's normal state with L1 waiting for the START button to be depressed.
There you have it. A relay circuit. Now these diagrams are known as relay logic or ladder
diagrams. It's using relays to control the circuit and also the diagram will begin to take the shape
of a ladder as the relay logic grows. It will continue downward as you will see later on.
Now in the diagram below I have added a motor starter. A motor starter is just another name for
a certain type of relay that is used to control a motor. We'll call this MTR1(Motor1). The logic
here is the same as above with the exception of adding control to the circuit so that any of the
circuit below the MTR1 contact will not be hot until the MTR1 coil is energized, which closes
the MTR1 contact. This allows current to flow to the lower part of the diagram (Not Shown) and
turns on the "MOTOR RUNNING LIGHT".
Motor Starter
ELECTRICAL
0 COMMENT
Induction Motor
An induction motor is a 3 phase motor consisting of the 3 phase winding as the stator
with a permanent magnet and the rotor as another 3 phase windings. It works on the
principle of rotating magnetic field, i.e. the formation of the magnetic flux from 3 phase
winding fluxes, which rotates about its axis, causing the rotor to rotate. An Induction
motor has the ability to self start owing to the interaction between the rotating magnetic
field flux and the rotor winding flux, causing a high rotor current as torque is increased.
As a result the stator draws high current and by the time the motor reaches to full
speed, a large amount of current (greater than the rated current) is drawn and this can
cause heating up of the motor, eventually damaging it. To prevent this, motor starters
are needed.
Inducation Motor
Need for Motor Starting
In an induction motor, when supply is given to the stator windings, the rotating magnetic
field flux and the produced flux in the rotor windings due to the back emf, causes the
motor torque to increase, causing a high rotor current. During the time between the
application of electric supply to the motor and the actual acceleration of the motor to its
full speed, a large amount of current is drawn by the stator from the supply. This starting
current is about 5 to 6 times more than the full load current. This time duration can be
for few seconds or longer. This causes the electrical equipments to damage because of
the increasing voltage drop in electrical systems due to flow of larger currents across
the cable. For this reason, a definite method of starting the motor is needed.
Stator Resistance Starter: It consists of three resistors in series with each phase of the
stator windings, which causes a voltage drop across each resistor and as a result a low
voltage is applied to each phase.
Rotor Resistance Starter: It consists of 3 resistances connected in series with the rotor
windings, thus reducing the rotor current, but increasing the torque.
With this technique, a controlled starting and stopping is achieved with proper selection
of ramp times and setting of the current limit.
Voltage Control:
Solid state AC switches are arranged in series with one or more phases to achieve
voltage control.
Varying the conduction angle of the switches can control the average voltage as
increasing conduction angle can increase the average output voltage. This process
proves advantageous with improved efficiency and lesser power dissipation. Also the
average voltage can be easily altered using control electronics.
Photos Credit:
Protection devices for electrical circuits accomplish two main functions namely
consistency as well as protection. Protection is assured through detaching power supply
in a circuit through overcurrent protection, which removes fire hazards and
electrocution. Additionally, the accurate protection may be required to obey with
organization principles for some products. Designers must take time to know the
different protection devices for circuits. Protection devices used to protect circuits from
extreme voltages or currents. This article discusses what is a protection device, and
types of protection devices used in electrical and electronic circuits.
What is a Protection Device?
The circuit protection device is an electrical device used for preventing an unnecessary
amount of current otherwise a short circuit. To ensure the highest security, there are
many protection devices available in the market which offers you a total range of
protection devices for circuits such as a fuse, circuit breakers, RCCB, gas discharge
tubes, thyristors, and more.
Different types of Protection Devices
The different types of circuit protection devices examples include the following.
Fuse
Circuit Breaker
PolySwitch
RCCB
Metal Oxide Varistor
Inrush Current Limiter
Gas Discharge Tube
Spark Gap
Lightning Arrester
Fuse
In electrical circuits, a fuse is an electrical device used to protect the circuit from
overcurrent. It consists of a metal strip that liquefies when the flow of current through it
is high. Fuses are essential electrical devices, and there are different types of fuses
available in the market today based on specific voltage and current ratings, application,
response time, and breaking capacity.
The characteristics of fuses like time and current are selected to give sufficient
protection without unnecessary disruption. Please refer the link to know more about:
Different Types of Fuses and Its Applications
Fuse
Circuit Breaker
A circuit breaker is one kind of electrical switch used to guard an electrical circuit
against short circuit otherwise an overload which will cause by excess current supply.
The basic function of a circuit breaker is to stop the flow of current once a fault has
occurred. Not like a fuse, a circuit breaker can be operated either automatically or
manually to restart regular operation.
Circuit breakers are available in different sizes from small devices to large switch gears
which are used to protect low current circuits as well as high voltage circuits. Please refer
the link to know more about: Types of Circuit Breaker and Its Importance
Circuit Breaker
Polyswitch
RCCB or RCD
The RCD-residual current device (or) RCCB- residual current circuit breaker is a safety
device which notices a problem in your home power supply then turns OFF in 10-15
milliseconds to stop electric shock. A residual current device does not give safety
against short circuit or overload in the circuit, so we cannot change a fuse instead of
RCD.
RCDs are frequently incorporated with some type of circuit breaker like an MCB
(miniature circuit breaker) or a fuse, which guards against overload current in the circuit.
The residual current device also cannot notice a human being due to by mistake
touching both conductors at a time.
These devices are testable as well as resettable apparatus. A test button securely forms
a tiny leakage condition; along with a reset button again connects the conductors after
an error state has been cleared.
RCCB
They present a high resistance firstly, which stops huge currents from flowing by turn-
on. Because the flow of current will continues, NTC thermistors heat-up, permitting high
flow of current throughout normal operation. These thermistors are generally much
superior to measurement kind thermistors, which are intentionally planned for power
applications.
Lightning Protection
The lightning protection includes MOV (metal oxide varistor) and gas discharge tube
Metal Oxide Varistor
A varistor or VDR (voltage dependent resistor) is an electronic component and the
resistance of this is changeable and depends on the applied voltage. The term
varistor has been taken from the variable resistor. When the voltage of this component
increases then the resistance decreases. In the same way, when an extreme voltage
increases then the resistance will decrease significantly.
This performance creates them appropriate to guard electrical circuits throughout
voltage flows. Origins of a flow can comprise electrostatic discharges as well as
lightning strikes. The most frequent type of voltage-dependent resistor is the MOV
(metal oxide varistor). Please refer the link to know more about varistor/voltage-
dependent resistor circuit with working
An expulsion lamp is an electrical device which uses a gas-filled tube such as metal
halide lamps, fluorescent lamps, neon lights, and sodium-vapor lamps. Specific gas-filled
tubes namely thyratrons, ignitrons, and krytrons are employed as switching devices in
various electrical devices.
The required voltage to begin and maintain discharge is reliant on the force, geometry
of the tube, and composition of the fill gas. Even though the cover is normally glass,
power tubes frequently employ ceramics, as well as military tubes frequently employ
glass wrinkled metal.
Gas Discharge Tube
ESD Protection
This is all about protection device and its types. The protection of the circuit can be
done by using different protection devices in an electrical circuit purposely in order to
stop extreme amounts of current. To make sure extreme safety, this article gives an
overview of circuit protection techniques, namely circuit breakers, ESD
protection electronic fuses, gas discharge tubes, thyristors, and many more.