Matt, how can voltage drop across electrical components lead to system malfunctions?

In this edition of “HVAC Skill Builder,” Matt discusses HVAC system malfunctions caused by a voltage drop across the electrical components.

Matt, how can a voltage drop across electrical components lead to a system malfunction? Well, a voltage drop across a component can actually cause issues with the component itself. For example, if you have the 240 volts going into a contactor and the contactor pushes in and you don’t have the same 240 volts going out, obviously the voltage is struggling to get through that contactor to power up the other components. And if that’s the case, it’s going to put undue strain on those components when it was attempting to run, when in fact, you shouldn’t have much of a voltage drop. It should be able to go from 240 to 240 through that contactor. But again, if you have that voltage drop and you allow the system to run like that, you risk having other damaged components throughout the life of that system.