Never use a Relay for a load that exceeds the contact ratings of the Relay, such as the switching capacity. Doing so may result in reducing Relay performance for insulation failure, contact welding, and contact faults, and might even result in burning or other damage to the Relay. The effects occurring at a relay contact depend greatly on the size and type of the load, the current, the contact size and material, the operate time and the contact bounce. While AC current periodically drops to zero. What measures can be taken to protect the relay itself and handle electrical surges and spikes in an industrial environment? Typically, I place a flyback diode on the coil to prevent back EMF. In one circuit, we've used an NTC to prevent inrush current. The use of snubbers, varistors, Zener diodes. Load flow can have an adverse effect on relay performance, but most probably the majority of appli-cations are made and settings calculated where load flow is either assumed to be zero or considered in a cursory manner. The selection and applications of.
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