Why Use Oil Circuit Reclosers? Information from an OCR Repair Company

A recloser is a type of protection device that is used on various electrical distribution networks. Most reclosers combine a circuit breaker that trips if it detects an overcurrent (which indicates there is a short circuit somewhere inside one of the sections of the network) with an electronic reclosing function, which automatically brings back power to the line if the fault quickly clears itself. This recloser function kicks in approximately 80 percent of the time.

So what has made reclosers such a popular option for electricity distribution companies? There are two primary incentives:

• Fewer prolonged power outages: Reclosers are excellent for preventing these types of transient short circuits from causing power outages that last for an extended period of time. As a result, these companies are able to keep the power on for their customers in situations in which other solutions would have created prolonged outages. Customers appreciate this sort of continuity and reliability.
• Automatic power restoration: Reclosers automatically restore power after an outage occurs. There’s no need for an engineer to pay a visit to the site, pinpoint the problem and restore it. This saves time and money for electricity distribution companies, and again, provides customers with greater reliability and continuity in their electricity service.

What is a transient short circuit?

As previously mentioned, one of the greatest benefits of using oil circuit reclosers is that it prevents transient short circuits from causing prolonged power outages. But what exactly is a transient short circuit?

Essentially, it is a sort of event that can be caused in an accident situation. For example, a tree branch could fall off a tree and even just momentarily come into contact with a cable while it is on its way to the ground. Reclosers are equipped to handle this sort of situation much better than circuit breakers are. In the vast majority of cases, reclosers will be able to restore the power to customers almost immediately. The only situation in which a recloser would not instantly restore power would be if the cause of the short circuit did not clear itself. In this example situation, the tree branch is gone in a split second. Only in a small minority of cases does the cause of the short circuit need to be manually cleared.

Many new types of reclosers also have electronic control equipment with numerous network interfaces. This allows the reclosers to be seamlessly implemented into a wider network automation strategy. There is still the chance for transient short circuits to cause momentary outages in these types of setups, but again, this drastically cuts down on the duration of the outage time, and eliminates the need for a maintenance team to be dispatched to the breaker to restore power.

If you have any questions about why oil circuit reclosers are now so commonly used in the electrical industry, or about the types of services we provide to our customers, Central Illinois Reclosers Inc. encourages you to contact our OCR repair company today.

Categorised in: Oil Circuit Recloser Repair

This post was written by Writer