A vehicle body shop can run hundreds of welding points per minute, while robots, presses, conveyors, paint lines and HVAC systems change their electrical demand continuously. The production line may look mechanically stable, but the electrical load seen by the transformer is not. Rapid reactive-power changes, low power factor, voltage fluctuation and harmonic current can appear whenever several we...
Transformer Overheating Explained: Why It Happens Below Rated Load A transformer can run unusually hot even when the connected load appears safely below its nameplate rating. Current may seem acceptable while winding or enclosure temperatures continue rising. This often happens because loading is assessed only in kilowatts or average amperes. Harmonics, imbalance, poor power factor and inad...
APFC Panel Troubleshooting: 7 Common Faults and How to Fix Them An automatic power factor correction panel may begin switching incorrectly, miss its target or repeatedly trip capacitor stages. A newly commissioned APFC panel can also fail from its first day. The cause is not always a defective capacitor. CT installation, controller settings, harmonics, switching components and changing load...
A 480 V transformer that runs within nameplate kVA can develop abnormal temperature rise when VFDs, UPS rectifiers, and switched-mode loads inject high harmonic current into its secondary bus. The transformer does not see only useful fundamental current; it carries distorted current through its windings, terminations, and neutral conductor hour after hour. An Active Harmonic Filter measures...
Why a Solar Plant Needs Active Compensation A Static Var Generator (SVG) is an active, IGBT-based power-electronics compensator that stabilises voltage, supplies or absorbs reactive power and filters harmonic current at the point of common coupling (PCC) of a solar plant. It turns unstable PV output into grid-compliant power for EPC contractors, electrical engineers, procurement teams and power-qu...
Even-order harmonics are current and voltage components at even multiples of the fundamental frequency — the 2nd, 4th, 6th and higher orders — that appear as asymmetric distortion in a three-phase power system. They behave differently from the familiar 3rd, 5th and 7th odd harmonics: balanced six-pulse rectifiers do not generate them, but asymmetry does. Half-controlled bridges, DC-off...
When Power Quality Equipment Must Also Be Quiet A Static Var Generator is normally evaluated by reactive power capacity, response time, power factor control and harmonic compensation. In many installations, the equipment room adds another requirement: the solution must also control noise, dust exposure and maintenance demands. YT Electric’s Fanless Static Var Generator uses natural he...
High THDi — total harmonic distortion of current — is the ratio of the RMS value of all current harmonics to the fundamental current, expressed as a percentage. It rises when nonlinear loads such as variable frequency drives (VFDs), rectifiers, UPS units and chargers draw current in pulses instead of a clean sine wave. A high reading must be explained, not simply cleared: measure the s...