Market Forge 93-5040

SWITCH POWER (#2526)

A switch will have one or more sets of contacts, which may operate simultaneously, sequentially, or alternately. Switches in high-powered circuits must operate rapidly to prevent destructive arcing, and may include special features to assist in rapidly interrupting a heavy current. Multiple forms of actuators are used for operation by hand or to sense position, level, temperature or flow. Special types are used, for example, for control of machinery, to reverse electric motors, or to sense liquid level.

In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. Switches of all types are used in the operation of restaurant equipment. The most common type of switch is an electro-mechanical device consisting of one or more sets of movable electrical contacts connected to external circuits. When a pair of contacts is touching, current can pass between them, while when the contacts are separated no current can flow.