Re: ELECTRICALLY HELD VS. MECHANICALLY HELD CONTACTOR
Mechanically held usually require additional control relays to operate with photo-eyes. when used with building automation controllers a mechanically held requires both an On and an Off contact
In a super quite area like a broom closet in a library you might hear the coil "hum" from a electrically held device so a mechanical one would be preffered. In a basement boiler room who care about noise.
Life of the coil is not really a concern for most vendors. Magnetic motor starters are all electically held and there are not a large amount of coil failures. But if the device is going to stay on for hours at a time why pay for the coil losses of a 400A contactor, in this case use a mechanically held device.