Had a situation at work today that I'm trying to fully understand. We test generators by applying loads, resistive and reactive. The reactors have multiple taps to be used at different voltages to achieve the same ratings, so the lower the voltage applied, the fewer turns used in the inductor. An operator burned up nearly 20 reactors, and I had to figure out why. The problem I found, and almost certainly the cause, was that the contactor for 346v was stuck closed, while running 277v. So basically the 277v was applied in parallel to tap 1 and 2, with neutral at the other end at the 5th tap. What I want to know is why this burned up the reactors, and how do i calculate the current through them? At first thought, it seemed since it was the furthest from the neutral tap that was mistakenly used, it should have been the same amount of current. My guess was it has to do with phase shift.