Abstract:
Discloses a high voltage circuit breaker for a three-phase AC circuit in which the surge voltages produced by circuit breaker closing are held to a very low value by: (1) preinserting resistance across the main contacts of each phase in two steps prior to main contact closing, (2) staggering the initial resistor switch closings in the three phases by 30 to 120 electrical degrees, and (3) engaging the resistor switch contacts in the first-to-close phase at approximately the instant that the bus-side phase-to-ground voltage on that particular phase reaches a crest of the same polarity as the trapped charge on the line side of the breaker in that particular phase.