What is the difference between stabilizer and regulator

Voltage stabilizers regulate the fluctuating input voltage before it could be fed to the load or equipment which is sensitive to voltage variations.

The output voltage from the stabilizer will stay in the range of V or V in case of single phase supply and V or V in case of three phase supply, within given fluctuating range of input voltage. This regulation is carried by buck and boost operations performed by internal circuitry. These can be single or three-phase units as required by the type of application and capacity KVA needed.

Three-phase stabilizers come in two versions as balanced load models and unbalanced load models. These are available either as dedicated units for appliances or as a big stabilizer unit for whole appliances in a particular place, say whole house. In addition, these can be either analog or digital type of stabilizer units.

The common types of voltage stabilizers include manual operated or switchable stabilizers, automatic relay type stabilizers, solid state or static stabilizers, and servo controlled stabilizers.

Generally, each and every electrical equipment or device is designed for a wide range of input voltage. The voltage fluctuations rise or dip of the magnitude of rated voltage are quite common in many areas, especially at terminated lines. The most common reasons for voltage fluctuations are lighting, electrical faults , faulty wiring and periodic turning off the device.

These fluctuations create mishap to the electrical equipments or appliances. Long time over voltage will result. Long time under voltage will result. So the voltage stability and accuracy decide the correct operation of the equipment. Voltage stabilizers therefore ensure that the voltage fluctuations at the incoming power supply does not affect the load or electrical appliance.

In a voltage stabilizer, voltage correction from over and under voltage conditions is performed through two essential operations, namely b oost and buck operations.

These operations can be carried manually by switches or automatically through electronic circuitry. During under voltage condition, boost operation increases the voltage to a rated level while buck operation reduces the voltage level during over voltage condition. The concept of stabilization involves in adding or subtracting the voltage to and from the mains supply. For performing such task stabilizer uses a transformer which is connected in different configurations with switching relays.

Some stabilizers use a transformer with taps on winding to provide different voltage corrections while servo stabilizers use an auto transformer to have wide range of correction. The figure above illustrates the boosting configuration in which the polarity of the secondary winding is oriented in such a way that its voltage is directly added to the primary voltage.

Therefore, in case of under voltage condition, transformer whether it can be tap changing or autotransformer is switched by the relays or solid state switches such that additional volts are appended to the input voltage. In the figure above, transformer is connected in bucking configuration, wherein the polarity of secondary coil is oriented in such a way that its voltage subtracts from the primary voltage. The switching circuit shifts the connection to the load to this configuration during over voltage condition.

The figure above shows two stage voltage stabilizer which uses two relays to provide constant AC supply to the load during overvoltage and under voltage conditions. By switching the relays, buck and boost operations for two specific voltage fluctuations one is under voltage, for instance, say V and another for overvoltage, say V can be performed.

In case of tapping transformer type stabilizers, different taps are switched based on the required amount of boost or buck voltages. But, in case of auto transformer type stabilizers, motors servo motor are used along with sliding contact to obtain boost or buck voltages from the auto transformer as it contains only one winding.

Voltage stabilizers have become integral part of many electrical appliances of home, industries and commercial systems. Earlier, manually operated or switchable voltage stabilizers were used to boost or buck incoming voltage in order to give an output voltage within a desired range. Such stabilizers are built with electromechanical relays as switching devices.

Later, additional electronic circuitry automates the process of stabilization and gave birth to tap changer automatic voltage regulators. Another popular type of voltage stabilizer is servo stabilizer in which voltage correction is carried continuously without any switch. Let us discuss three main types of voltage stabilizers. In this type of voltage stabilizers, voltage regulation is accomplished by switching the relays so as to connect one of a number of tappings of the transformer to the load as in the manner discussed above whether it is for boosting or bucking operation.

The figure below illustrates the internal circuitry of relay type stabilizer. It has electronic circuit and set of relays besides the transformer which can be toroidal or iron core transformer with tappings provided on its secondary.

The electronic circuit comprises rectifier circuit, operational amplifier, microcontroller unit, and other tiny components. The electronic circuit compares the output voltage with a reference value provided by built-in reference voltage source. Whenever the voltage rises or falls beyond reference value, the control circuit switches the corresponding relay to connect a desired tapping to the output.

This type of stabilizers is most popularly used for low rating appliances in residential, commercial and industrial applications as they are of low weight and low cost. However, these are suffering with several limitations such as slow voltage correction speed, less durability, less reliability, interruption to power path during regulation, and unable to withstand high voltage surges. Home Engineering Electrical Engineering. What is the difference between regulator and stabiliser.

Electrical Engineering. First Prev Next Last. Showing Answers 1 - 6 of 6 Answers. Kk Sep 13th, Shivam Jha Oct 16th, Give your answer: If you think the above answer is not correct, Please select a reason and add your answer below. There are two types of them one with a auto transformer with several winding taps connected to relays.. Hope the above explanations will clear your doubts.. They are the same. They made up of auto-transformer of different voltage output ,switching device,The control cct is made of voltage comperators.

They are also input voltage range which on the transformer design. They made up of auto-transformer ,switching device,The control cct is made of voltage comperators.

They are also have input voltage range which depend on the transformer design. Cs etc Click to expand Stabiliser does this it either gives a stable output or breaks the circuit if the voltage drop is too high or low The regulator is bit different in its response to that of the stabiliser. Cs , split A. Cs , TV etc. You can say what you like in India. Hello Frank this is a forum Anyways if it is a Stabiliser it can be used for any equipment I seriously doubt it to be so Dear Danish Can you post some model specifications of what ever you have in your concern.

Dear, The unit with relays connected to many taps of auto transformer is generally what we call as "Stabilizer"..

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