Manually switched Banked Capacitors are used wherever it is necessary to operate each step of the Capacitor bank individually in a manual fashion depending on the KVAR requirement like in an Industry where the machines are operated based on 25%, 50%, and 100% loading. Each capacitor circuitry pertaining to the particular loading pattern can be operated individually through Capacitor Duty contactors and Push Buttons for Switching ON and OFF.

These type of Capacitor Banks are commonly used for Individual Motor Compensation, wherein the Capacitor is switched ON after a period of delay from the Switching ON of the Motor. The delay is basically introduced, since the Inrush current of Induction Motor is usually 7 to 9 times higher than the rated current. Hence, to avoid such higher magnitude currents through the capacitor, time delay is introduced through a timer circuit. Auto Switching ON & OFF is controlled through Control Contactor energized through the Motor Controls along with provision for Auto Manual Selector Switch.

The Contactors being the only moving Component, necessitates careful selection for this application to ensure longer life for these Contactors. Due to the characteristics of the capacitor operations and necessity to restrict the inrush current by using a suitable Damping Resistor which shall be in the circuit only for a short duration (during the in-rush current phenomena), a careful selection of the Capacitor Duty Contactors with built-in Damping Resistors is required, considering the Transformer Impedance and the number of Capacitors operating in parallel.

Capacitor Duty Contactors which has two sets of Contacts, one for restricting inrush current and other set is for continuous loading of the capacitors. This Capacitor Duty Contactor are specially designed with the Damping Resistance which restricts the inrush current. We will be using specially designed Capacitor Duty Contactors with Damping Resistors. These types of Contactors are different from standard contactors.