Hello,
While relays have a size advantage, an electrical engineer from a partner team tells me we should use contactors instead of relays for our ~7kW (single phase) and 22kW (3 phase) charge points. He said that the relays, when operating for long periods will have a higher chance of failing. While I am inclined to believe him, I am wondering if over the lifetime of a charger (let's say we expect it to last at least 7 years), all else considered equal, will there (likely) be any noticeable increase in rate of failure of the relay vs contactor? I'm not sure if he's being fastidious or is right to make this comment - I've noticed many AC EVSE / charge point manufacturers are using relays over contactors.
Thanks
While relays have a size advantage, an electrical engineer from a partner team tells me we should use contactors instead of relays for our ~7kW (single phase) and 22kW (3 phase) charge points. He said that the relays, when operating for long periods will have a higher chance of failing. While I am inclined to believe him, I am wondering if over the lifetime of a charger (let's say we expect it to last at least 7 years), all else considered equal, will there (likely) be any noticeable increase in rate of failure of the relay vs contactor? I'm not sure if he's being fastidious or is right to make this comment - I've noticed many AC EVSE / charge point manufacturers are using relays over contactors.
Thanks