Contactor

A contactor is an electrically controlled switch used for switching an electrical power circuit.[1] A contactor is typically controlled by a circuit which has a much lower power level than the switched circuit, such as a 24-volt coil electromagnet controlling a 230-volt motor switch.

Unlike general-purpose relays, contactors are designed to be directly connected to high-current load devices. Relays tend to be of lower capacity and are usually designed for both normally closed and normally open applications. Devices switching more than 15 amperes or in circuits rated more than a few kilowatts are usually called contactors. Apart from optional auxiliary low-current contacts, contactors are almost exclusively fitted with normally open ("form A") contacts. Unlike relays, contactors are designed with features to control and suppress the arc produced when interrupting heavy motor currents.

Contactor

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Contactors come in many forms with varying capacities and features. Unlike a circuit breaker, a contactor is not intended to interrupt a short circuit current. Contactors range from those having a breaking current of several amperes to thousands of amperes and 24 V DC to many kilovolts. The physical size of contactors ranges from a device small enough to pick up with one hand, to large devices approximately a meter (yard) on a side.

Sometimes an economizer circuit is also installed to reduce the power required to keep a contactor closed; an auxiliary contact reduces coil current after the contactor closes. A somewhat greater amount of power is required to initially close a contactor than is required to keep it closed. Such a circuit can save a substantial amount of power and allow the energized coil to stay cooler. Economizer circuits are nearly always applied on direct-current contactor coils and on large alternating current contactor coils.

A basic contactor will have a coil input (which may be driven by either an AC or DC supply depending on the contactor design). Universal coils (driven by AC as well as DC) are also available in the market today.[3] The coil may be energized at the same voltage as a motor the contactor is controlling, or may be separately controlled with a lower coil voltage better suited to control by programmable controllers and lower-voltage pilot devices. Certain contactors have series coils connected in the motor circuit; these are used, for example, for automatic acceleration control, where the next stage of resistance is not cut out until the motor current has dropped.[4]Yren

When current passes through the electromagnet, a magnetic field is produced, which attracts the moving core of the contactor. The electromagnet coil draws more current initially, until its inductance increases when the metal core enters the coil. The moving contact is propelled by the moving core; the force developed by the electromagnet holds the moving and fixed contacts together. When the contactor coil is de-energized, gravity or a spring returns the electromagnet core to its initial position and opens the contacts.

For contactors energized with alternating current, a small part of the core is surrounded with a shading coil, which slightly delays the magnetic flux in the core. The effect is to average out the alternating pull of the magnetic field and so prevent the core from buzzing at twice line frequency.

Because arcing and consequent damage occurs just as the contacts are opening or closing, contactors are designed to open and close very rapidly; there is often an internal tipping point mechanism to ensure rapid action.

The heat developed by the resulting electrical arc is very high, ultimately causing the metal on the contact to migrate with the current. The extremely high temperature of the arc (tens of thousands of degrees Celsius) cracks the surrounding gas molecules creating ozone, carbon monoxide, and other compounds. The arc energy slowly destroys the contact metal, causing some material to escape into the air as fine particulate matter. This activity causes the material in the contacts to degrade over time, ultimately resulting in device failure. For example, a properly applied contactor will have a life span of 10,000 to 100,000 operations when run under power; which is significantly less than the mechanical (non-powered) life of the same device which can be in excess of 20 million operations.[6]

Most motor control contactors at low voltages (600 volts and less) are air break contactors; air at atmospheric pressure surrounds the contacts and extinguishes the arc when interrupting the circuit. Modern medium-voltage AC motor controllers use vacuum contactors. High voltage AC contactors (greater than 1,000 volts) may use vacuum or an inert gas around the contacts. High voltage DC contactors (greater than 600 V) still rely on air within specially designed arc-chutes to break the arc energy. High-voltage electric locomotives may be isolated from their overhead supply by roof-mounted circuit breakers actuated by compressed air; the same air supply may be used to "blow out" any arc that forms.[7][8]

Contactors are rated by designed load current per contact (pole),[9] maximum fault withstand current, duty cycle, design life expectancy, voltage, and coil voltage. A general purpose motor control contactor may be suitable for heavy starting duty on large motors; so-called "definite purpose" contactors are carefully adapted to such applications as air-conditioning compressor motor starting. North American and European ratings for contactors follow different philosophies, with North American general purpose machine tool contactors generally emphasizing simplicity of application while definite purpose and European rating philosophy emphasizes design for the intended life cycle of the application.

NEMA contactors for low-voltage motors (less than 1,000 volts) are rated according to NEMA size, which gives a maximum continuous current rating and a rating by horsepower for attached induction motors. NEMA standard contactor sizes are designated 00, 0, 1, 2, 3 to 9.

Auxiliary contacts of contactors are used in control circuits and are rated with NEMA contact ratings for the pilot circuit duty required. Normally these contacts are not used in motor circuits. The nomenclature is a letter followed by a three-digit number, the letter designates the current rating of the contacts and the current type (i.e., AC or DC) and the number designates the maximum voltage design values.[10]

Contactors are often used to provide central control of large lighting installations, such as an office building or retail building. To reduce power consumption in the contactor coils, latching contactors are used, which have two operating coils. One coil, momentarily energized, closes the power circuit contacts, which are then mechanically held closed; the second coil opens the contacts.

A magnetic starter is a device designed to provide power to electric motors. It includes a contactor as an essential component, while also providing power-cutoff, under-voltage, and overload protection.

Vacuum contactors utilize vacuum bottle encapsulated contacts to suppress the arc. This arc suppression allows the contacts to be much smaller and use less space than air break contacts at higher currents. As the contacts are encapsulated, vacuum contactors are used fairly extensively in dirty applications, such as mining. Vacuum contactors are also widely used at medium voltages from 1000 to 5000 volts, effectively displacing oil-filled circuit breakers in many applications.

Vacuum contactors are only applicable for use in AC systems. The AC arc generated upon opening of the contacts will self-extinguish at the zero-crossing of the current waveform, with the vacuum preventing a re-strike of the arc across the open contacts. Vacuum contactors are therefore very efficient at disrupting the energy of an electric arc and are used when relatively fast switching is required, as the maximum break time is determined by the periodicity of the AC waveform. In the case of 60 Hz power (North American standard), the power will discontinue within 1/120 of a second (8.3ms).

A mercury-wetted relay is a form of relay, usually a reed relay, in which the contacts are wetted with mercury. These are not considered contactors because they are not intended for currents above 15 amps.

When a series of contactors is to be operated in sequence, this may be done by a camshaft instead of by individual electromagnets. The camshaft may be driven by an electric motor or a pneumatic cylinder. Before the advent of solid-state electronics, the camshaft system was commonly used for speed control in electric locomotives.[11]

In addition to their current ratings and rating for motor circuit control, contactors often have other construction details not found in relays. Unlike lower-powered relays, contactors generally have special structures for arc-suppression to allow them to interrupt heavy currents, such as motor starting inrush current. Contactors usually have provision for installation of additional contact blocks, rated for pilot duty, used in motor control circuits.

Need to simulate the magnatic contactor on MULTISIM please help

the diagram of contactor is given below (in attachment)

in my schematic on MULTISIM i don't know how to use normally open and closed points please help

In this article, we will be talking about contactors. We will explain what a contactor is and how they work. We will also explain how to wire a contactor and the difference between a contactor and a relay.

So, what we do instead, we use a contactor to connect the PLC to the motor indirectly and safely. What do we mean by indirectly, you ask? Well, all contactors have a low voltage coil. We connect the PLC output to this coil. This coil usually works with a 24-volt DC signal.

The answer to this question is No! A relay works the same way as a contactor. That means a relay also has a coil and some contact. When the coil is energized, the contacts will close. This is the same way a contactor works, right? 17dc91bb1f