CAUSES:
Culprits
 

"The culprits are usually devices that need power in an odd way. But by needing it in the way they do, they run the risk of deteriorating the quality of the power as a whole"

That is probably enough said already! A slightly longer explanation is; Devices that do not present an even load to the source, whether it be on a cycle basis as non-linear current curve or a varying current over many cycles (or even a combination of both), will impact the quality of the supply.

Identification of these is paramount to understanding the causes of power quality issues. Knowing how each type of load is going to impact the supply is almost self-obvious, especially if the load and associated problem are spread between two properties.

"The Way Things Are Done" opens this section, purely because most problems start with the habits of humans, rather than end with them.

"Capacitors and Power" has a look at what happens when capacitors are employed to 'resistify' inductors!

Motors - the need for things to turn (literally). They do make life easy, but at a cost.

"Arcing" comes in two forms - primarily we don't want it to happen, but then someone throws a spanner in the works and insists on making sparks fly!

"Technology" is blamed as the primary cause of power quality issues. Although its implementation does keep a lot of people employed, it is not in whole to blame for power quality degradation.

"Protection" is the bit in the middle to stop the power from destroying the precious technology. It has a few pitfalls when not employed properly.

"Network Impedances" are often not associated with equipment damage, especially when they are low. We see the issues that can develop when this is overlooked.

Natural Causes - some things are just not our fault! Honest, Guv!

The Way Things Are Done  >>


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