Switch-it-Off Products Save You Money!
One example of a "Switch-it-Off" application is in the Plastics Industry where waste scraps are recycled through a grinding process. Generally, the start button on the grinder is pressed at the start of the shift and the grinder stays on all day. With a "Switch-it-off" Motor Monitor-Controller (e.g. the basic SIO10) fitted to the grinder motor, the "Motor Idle Current" is determined by the SIO10 during the short "Idle Current Determination Time" after the grinder motor starts up. The "Loaded Grinding Current" is either remembered from the previous shift or learned from the first plastic grinding of the day. Occasionally throughout the shift, plastic is fed into the grinder and after the plastic is finished being ground, the current drops below the Switch-Off threshold (“SOT”) and the timer starts timing until the user-adjustable timer setting expires, the contacts open for one second and the motor is shut down to save energy.
Clearly, "Switch-it-Off" Motor Monitor-Controllers can save energy and increase motor life wherever the load cycle of the motor is small compared to the amount of time spent idling. It can be argued that the "Switch-it-Off" devices are not necessary because the operators should be switching off motor that are just idling but, in practice, this just doesn't happen!