Thread: Soft Start
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Tabby Tabby is offline
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Default Soft Start

On May 5, 7:39*pm, Roger Mills wrote:
Anyone know whether it's possible to add soft start to a tool that
wasn't born with it - maybe by using some external plug-in wizardry?


yes

I have a Lidl compressor which, according to my power meter, takes about
750 watts[1] when running.

I tried to run it today from my Honda 2kW (peak - 1.6kW continuous)
inverter-based generator, and the genny didn't want to know - presumably
because of the high start-up current.

Would a soft start help and, if so, can it be retro-fitted?


well... compressors are not normally soft started, they need a good
current surge to get going in the face of high pressure. You can soft
start them, but would need to take the pressure off them until theyre
upto speed. How easy it is to arrange the additional mechanics on your
compressor I dont know.

It will also work on soft start as is if you start with an empty tank,
and switch it off once full so it doesnt try to top it up. Might or
might not be practical though.

[1] Probably 1000VA with a non-unity power factor because the indicated
current was about 4 amps


http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Droppers


NT