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Page 316

| Figure 16-4 Capacitor construction. |

| Operation |

| Banks of such units are assembled to provide the necessary capacitance or reactive power supply. They are usually installed as close as possible to the equipment to be regulated, which may be an inductive load. In this way, the current supplied over the circuit will be as close to being in phase with the voltage as possible; that is, the current will neither lag nor lead the voltage. In practice, this perfection is almost never attained. Capacitors may also be installed in the circuit itself, at intervals along the line, to offset the effects of the inductance of the circuit itself. |

| Capacitors may be installed outdoors on poles, in racks, or enclosures (Fig. 16-5). They may also be installed indoors in vaults or other suitable enclosures (Fig. 16-6). They may be protected by circuit breakers, switches, fuses, lightning arresters, or a combination of any of these. Each capacitor unit is usually individually fused, with the case of each unit connected to ground. |

| Since loads on a circuit may be constantly varying (as motors start and |

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