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Over the years I have run across a few surprising facts about electrical components. I thought to pass on a couple of these [somewhat obscure?] interesting and often important details. So here are a couple of questions to chew on.
1). Why is it bad to oversize a relay contact? In other words, if I have a ten amp resistive circuit, why would it be a bad choice to use contacts rated for 30 amps to switch the load? Cost and size are not important.
2). Why is it bad to undersize a fuse - especially with high power applications? If I have a 200 amp circuit and I know that my load should never exceed 10 amps, why should I still use a 200 amp fuse in the main panel; perhaps with secondary protection added and properly sized for the 10 amp load?
1). Why is it bad to oversize a relay contact? In other words, if I have a ten amp resistive circuit, why would it be a bad choice to use contacts rated for 30 amps to switch the load? Cost and size are not important.
2). Why is it bad to undersize a fuse - especially with high power applications? If I have a 200 amp circuit and I know that my load should never exceed 10 amps, why should I still use a 200 amp fuse in the main panel; perhaps with secondary protection added and properly sized for the 10 amp load?
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