Glossary
Inrush current
What is Inrush current?
The briefly increased current when a load starts up. Motors, pumps and compressors draw several times their continuous current, often only for fractions of a second.
What matters about Inrush current in practice?
For the consumption balance, inrush current is irrelevant — it lasts too briefly to move amp-hours. For sizing fuses, switches, relays and DC-DC converters it is decisive.
A tightly sized converter or a fast-acting fuse trips on start-up even though everything is fine in continuous operation. That is why slow-blow fuses exist — and why the data sheet states a starting current.
Related terms
Still unclear?
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