Re: Calculation of PFC Capacitors using LTR Capacitor

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Hi John F., Ed,

Yes, you are correct. And as John C. and Terry have shown issues at the
breakers,
it does help me see where PFC use for our coils can help to reduce the load
on the
breakers and components upstream from the transformer. Because of my setup,  I
don't have that problem, thus, I didn't see the real need. But it appears
that it
may infact be useful in some situations.

Also, Ed mentioned the following in his reply:
"The reason I wrote the questions is that I get the impression from what I read
here that a lot of fellows think that a PFC is a necessity."

I get the same impression, and I guess that's really what concerned me. I think
there's a lack of knowledge for many coilers on what the PFC actually does.
There
have been some good posts in the past, but I also fell into this realm of
little
understanding on our use of the PFC. What helped me the most was just
researching
beyond the list threads. Once PFC use became clear in my mind, I then began
to see
others simply assuming a PFC is "good to use" without "knowing why". Hopefully,
this thread will clear up some of the mystery.

Take care,
Bart



Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>
>
> In a message dated 8/3/02 12:53:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> writes:
>
> Bart,
>
> Important reasons to use PFC are to prevent line fuses/breakers
> from blowing due to the heavy current draw from larger coils, and to
> reduce the stresses and losses in the input wiring, switches, etc.
>
> For a large coil, it's very possible that not enough power will be
> available at a particular location, unless PFC is used.  This is
> especially true if the PF of the coil is poor.
>
> Cheers,
> John
>
> >
> > The funny thing about all this PFC business is that the transformer and
> > coil still use the same
> > amount of real power regardless of PFC use. It's  really only important to
> > everything upstream
> > from the transformer and the current we read on the meter. This to me is
> > one of those areas I
> > still don't quite understand why we worry about it so much. Yes,
> > transformers cause reactive
> > power, but, I see little use of a PFC (except to identify how much real
> > power is entertaining
> > us). Just my opinion.
> >
> > Take care,
> > Bart