I was called in to troubleshoot an evaporator circuit to some compressors at the dinning hall of some dorms. I got that fixed but couldn't help notice that the panel that fed all the compressors had a 3 phase 80 amp breaker in it with a ? for a label. I traced it out to a capacitor bank with 6 small lights on it to indicated if a fuse was blown. Some lights were on. My guess is that it is there to ballance out the inductive loads. Would someone be able to shed some light on this.
Capacitor bank
- Thread starter JdoubleU
- Start date
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electricalperson
Senior Member
- Location
- massachusetts
the capacitor bank is there to correct the power factor it helps save money on the electric bill since commercial bills are VA and not watts
wirenut1980
Senior Member
- Location
- Plainfield, IN
Was the voltage well balanced? If only some lights were one, there may be one or more blown fuses, which would cause some voltage unbalance depending on the size of the banks with relation to the service size.
beanland
Senior Member
- Location
- Vancouver, WA
Supplies Reactive Power
Supplies Reactive Power
Motors and transformers consume reactive power (lagging power factor). A capacitor generates reactive power (leading power factor.) The right balance of load and capacitor will minimize the line current. This means lower losses and less loading on transformers.
If some of the capacitors have failed, their fuses would blow, and the balance between consumption of reactive power and generating reactive power is out.
The capacitors are generally tied to a specific load. Having capacitors on 24x7 can lead to higher losses when the load is low. In most cases, unless there is a penalty by the utility for poor power factor, or a transformer is approaching a load limit, or there are voltage problems (capacitors can raise voltage), I would leave them off.
Supplies Reactive Power
Motors and transformers consume reactive power (lagging power factor). A capacitor generates reactive power (leading power factor.) The right balance of load and capacitor will minimize the line current. This means lower losses and less loading on transformers.
If some of the capacitors have failed, their fuses would blow, and the balance between consumption of reactive power and generating reactive power is out.
The capacitors are generally tied to a specific load. Having capacitors on 24x7 can lead to higher losses when the load is low. In most cases, unless there is a penalty by the utility for poor power factor, or a transformer is approaching a load limit, or there are voltage problems (capacitors can raise voltage), I would leave them off.
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