An Insight into Soft Starters: Definition, Types, and Working

Industrial owners shoulder a huge amount of responsibility towards the growth and development of a country. The success of a nation depends on several factors like the functioning of the health care sector, educational sector, maintaining per capita income, employment rates, and more. So, how does an industry play a role in ensuring that a state is progressing consistently?

An industry comprises of several tools and equipment like soft starters, electric motors, panel boards, cable wires, etc. However, to run all the instruments effectively and efficiently, the industry owner has to employ technicians and professionally trained workers in handling electrical machines, which ultimately increases employment rates, enhancing the overall GDP.

Now that you have understood why industries are integral for the development of society, it is important to comprehend the basics of the industrial sector so that it brings you in touch with several industrial operations. When one thinks about an industrial site, our mind automatically visualizes a comprehensive image of heavy and interconnected systems that continually work in order to produce optimum results. However, several other tools and devices are involved that are designed to support these machines, like pushbuttons, transfer switches, enclosures, soft starters, etc.

In this article, we will be giving you a glimpse into one of the most important electrical devices called a soft starter and why is it imperative to the electric domain. In layman terms, a soft starter is a device exclusively designed to introduce new ways in which the user can start an electric motor. Generally, whenever a motor receives power, it starts with an abrupt sense of loud disruption that can damage the electrical instrument.

What is a Soft Starter?

As the name suggests, a motor starter slowly accelerates the voltage levels, giving the motor time to increase its power intensity. So, how is this different from how an ordinary electric motor starts? One of the biggest reasons users have to replace and repair their instruments repeatedly is that the sudden motor commencement leads to the wear and tear of all the internal components of the machine.

On the other hand, a soft starter is built with an objective to gently release the power levels, safeguarding the equipment from several hazardous situations like a short circuit, overheating, explosions, etc. Now, let us move forward to understanding some of the many advantages of deploying a soft starter.

Advantages of Investing in a Quality Soft Starter

Most soft starters are cost-efficient and easily available.
Lowers the frequency of knocks and bumps in the mechanical system.
Reduces jolts, limits the starting current, controls current peaks, and extends protections and soft stops.
Soft starters are compact and have very low operational costs.
Soft starters can efficiently replace human labour that goes into managing repetitive tasks, and for this reason, a microprocessor or microcontroller is used in the control circuit of a soft starter.

Applications of a Soft Starter

Below we have carefully curated a list of applications that can incorporate soft starters in their system:

Grinders and crushers
Refrigeration and air compressors
Blowers, exhausters, and fans
Irrigation and sanitation pumps
Centrifugal pumps

Find Your Way Forward

Before investing in a soft starter, we recommend that you take some time out for research and join hands with a leading electric service provider. Their skilled team of technicians will help you through the installation process and will ensure that the device is installed in the most effective and accurate way possible.