Principle of operation
Thermal motor protection relays contain three bimetal strips together with a trip mechanism in a housing
made of insulating material. The bimetal strips are heated by the motor current, causing them to bend and
activating the trip mechanism after a certain travel which depends on the current-setting of the relay.
The release mechanism actuates an auxiliary switch that breaks the coil circuit of the motor contactor
(Figure 1). A switching position indicator signals the condition tripped.
Figure 1 - Principle of operation of a three pole thermally delayed bimetal motor protection relay with
temperature compensation
A = Indirectly heated bimetal strips
B = Trip slide
C = Trip lever
D = Contact lever
E = Compensation bimetal strip
The bimetal strips may be heated directly or indirectly. In the first case, the current flows directly through
the bimetal, in the second through an insulated heating winding around the strip.
The insulation causes some delay of the heat-flow so that the inertia of indirectly heated thermal relays is
greater at higher currents than with their directly heated counterparts. Often both principles are combined.
For motor rated currents over approx. 100 A, the motor current is conducted via current transformers. The
thermal overload relay is then heated by the secondary current of the current transformer.
This means on one hand, that the dissipated power is reduced and, on the other, that the
short-circuit withstand capacity is increased.
The tripping current of bimetal relays can be set on a current scale by displacement of the trip mechanism
relative to the bimetal strips so that the protection characteristic can be matched to the protected object in
the key area of continuous duty.
The simple, economical design can only approximate the transient thermal characteristic of the motor.
For starting with subsequent continuous duty, the thermal motor protection relay provides perfect protection
for the motor. With frequent start-ups in intermittent operation the significantly lower heating time constant
of the bimetal strips compared to the motor results in early tripping in which the thermal capacity of the
motor is not utilized.
The cooling time constant of thermal relays is shorter than that of normal motors. This also contributes to an
increasing difference between the actual temperature of the motor and that simulated by the thermal relay in
intermittent operation.
For these reasons, the protection of motors in intermittent operation is insufficient.
Temperature compensation
The principle of operation of thermal motor protection relays is based on temperature rise.
Therefore the ambient temperature of the device affects the tripping specifications. As the installation site
and hence the ambient temperature of the motor to be protected usually is different from that of the
protective device it is an industry standard that the tripping characteris-tic of a bimetal relay is temperaturecompensated, i.e. largely independent of its ambient temperature (see Figure 2 below).
Figure 2 - Tripping tolerances for temperature-compensated overload relays for motor rotection under IEC
60947-4-1