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On 6 Oct 2005 at 21:27, Dave Hall wrote: > > For most > > switches, the lion's share of the punishment comes when it's time to open the > > circuit, as that's when the arc may strike. > > Would that hold the same for a bulb, since the cold resistance is a lot lower > than when hot? Most bulbs that fail seem to blow when turned on - not as they > are turned off. Not sure. The inrush is certainly more than the break current, but it's the breaking process that tend to draw out an arc. Closing a switch, if done right, is generally pretty tame. > 16(4)A may be non-inductive and (inductive) rating, as Russ suggests. Russ suggested this might be a make (break) rating. That would apply to things like tungsten loads, where there load was resistive, but there was a significant inrush, as well as things like motors which are inductive, but have large inrush currents when starting from stopped. A purely inductive load would draw little initial current, but might have substantial current at break, more along the lines of 4(16)A. The 16(4)A rating might apply to charging capacitors. That's a common thing where I work, but not common in most places. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~