What are Controls? What do Controls Control? How do Controls Control What They Control?

Trust me- from the perspective of a master electrician, some of the more baffling things to work on and interpret are controls. Motor controls, lighting controls, etc. can be very elaborate and very difficult to understand. The options on what one can do with controls and how it can be done are all but endless! In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about some of the basics.

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A big thank you to today’s sponsor Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric makes some of the best electrical equipment on the market. From panels, to switchboards, to control components, they have almost everything an electrician could need to install. They even have control components via their Easy T eSys line of products. This line has several contactors and accessories that have excellent price points and are readily available at many supply houses- even online! If you are wiring a complex control cabinet or a simple contactor installation, check out the Easy T eSys line from Schneider. They will certainly have a product to suit your needs.
So, what are controls? In essence, controls are a way to electrically turn something on and off. Maybe a light switch? It controls a fixture/fixtures. What about multiple lighting circuits needing to be controlled by a single flip of one switch? Well we would use a multipole contactor and some type of switch turning that contactor on and off. Motors are another thing we can control. Again, enter the contactor and some type of switch that tells that contactor when to turn on and off.
So, there are two basic types of control components. The first one is the equipment that handles the normal power circuit for what you are wanting to turn on/off (lighting, motors, etc.). For that we typically use a relay or contactor. A relay is much smaller and capable of much less amperage than a contactor. Contactors are usually much larger, can carry more amperage, but can control less items. Contactors even have auxiliary contact points that can be added to suit additional needs. Say when you turn a motor on, you want a light to come on letting everyone know that the motor is running. Simply add an auxiliary contact to the contactor, use the NO contact point (NO-normally open= like it is sitting on the shelf, the contact points are open. NC-normally closed= sitting on shelf, the contact points are closed), and when the contactor closes and the motor begins to turn, the light comes on.
The other type of control component is something that interacts with the items being controlled- something that controls the controller. A simple switch falls in here. Flip the switch, something comes on. Flip it the other way, something goes off. A timer is another. It will allow the contact points to close and current to flow for a set amount of time, then it opens and current ceases to flow. A start/stop button is a great example of this. You want the motor to come on press the start button (usually wired on the NO contacts). You want the motor to stop just press the stop button (wired using the NC contacts- so it’s a failsafe). A limit switch is another way we can interact with a process.