The Basics of Voltage Imbalance

Sep 1, 1999 Paul Frank, Tel-A-Train | Electrical Construction and Maintenance

http://ecmweb.com/content/basics-voltage-imbalance
Electrical equipment; especially motors and their controllers; will not operate reliably on unbalanced
voltages in a 3-phase system. Generally, the dierence between the highest and the lowest voltages
should not e!ceed "# o the lowest voltage. Greater imbalances may cause overheating o components;
especially motors; and intermittent shutdown o motor controllers. $otors operated on unbalanced voltages
will overheat, and many overload relays can%t sense the overheating. &n addition, many solid-state motor
controllers and inverters include components that are especially sensitive to voltage imbalances.
'ow much imbalance is too much( )et%s loo* at an e!ample. +uppose the lowest voltage on a 3-phase
circuit is ,3-., while another phase is ,3/., and the third phase is ,"-.. &s this a signiicant voltage
imbalance( )et%s use the "# rule to see.
0our percent o the lowest voltage 1,3-.2 is 3.,. 1,3-.4 "# 5 3.,.2. 6he dierence between the highest
voltage 1,"-.2 and the lowest voltage 1,3-.2 is 7-.. 6hereore, these voltages have too great an
imbalance. 8hy( 9ecause the 7-. dierence is greater than our percent o the lowest voltage 13.,.2.
:ou can use a more precise procedure or calculating voltage imbalance. 6he irst step is to calculate the
average voltage by adding all three phases and dividing by 3. &n our e!ample, the average is ,3/.: :ou
add the voltages to get your total. ,3-.;,3/.;,"-. 5 <-/.. 6hen you divide by the number o phases.
<-/. / 3 5 ,3/..
=e!t, add up the absolute dierences between each phase voltage and the average voltage. &n this case,
the dierence between the average voltage and ,3-. is /.. 6he dierence between the average and itsel
is -.; and the dierence between the average and ,"-. is /.. >dding up the dierences, we get 7-.. >nd
that 7-. is what we call the total imbalance.
=ow divide the total imbalance in hal to get an ad?usted imbalance. 'al o 7-. is /.. 0inally, divide the
ad?usted imbalance into the average voltage to get a percentage imbalance. &n this case, /. / ,3/. 5
-.-,7, that is ,.7# imbalance.
@eliable, long-term operation o most electrical equipment requires a voltage imbalance o less than two
percent; which means your system has too much imbalance.
& you ind voltage imbalances in your acility, the irst place to loo* is not the power company. &nstead, loo*
or electrical distribution systems in which one leg o a 3-phase supply powers both single-phase and 3-
phase loads. :ou may ind single phase loads not evenly balanced across the phases. Ar, loo* or in-line
reactors installed to correct imbalances. 6hese reactors usually have taps or ad?ustment, and somebody
may have ad?usted them. Ar, the imbalance they originally corrected may have shited over time. Bircuits
with tapped reactors rarely stay in balance indeinitely.
=ow, here%s a practice question. :ou go out onto the loor and ind a "C-. motor with phase voltages o
"/D., "C/., and "D-.. &s there a problem or not( 6here sure is.
)owest voltage is "/D.. 0irst, calculate your our percent. -.-"4"/D. 57D.3,.. 6he dierence between the
highest voltage 1"D-.2 and the lowest voltage 1"/D.2 is ,,. 1"D--"/D2. +ince the dierence 1,,.2 is
greater than "# o the lowest voltage 17D.3,.2, the phases are too ar out o balance to ensure continued,
reliable operation o electrical equipment