It (60947-5-1) probably doesn't need a definition (and might, indeed, be a redundant Standard!), since I'd be hard pressed to think of any relay that would not qualify as a 'contactor' per the above 60947-4-1 definition! [NOTE 4 is clearly going to have plenty of excpetions, no matter what one calls the device]
I think I can but refer back to my very first response to the OP - it doesn't really matter a damn what one calls them, provided the specification is appropriate for one's application!And furthermore, many manufacturers have products which look identical to their contactors but are marketed as relays. These tend to be called "auxiliary relays", but are better know in mainland Europe as "contactor relays". To the OP, are you sorry you asked yet?
Quite, as long as the specified information is appropriate for the application, and is complete - the requirements for specification are slightly different.
In what ways to they differ? The answer to that might conceivably give us some insight into what they consider to be the difference between a relay and a contactor!
Couldn't easily tell you. The difference isn't necessarily anything physical about the design and construction. If a manufacturer has a product that meets the requirements of the contactor standard, then he sells it as a contactor. If it meets the requirements of a relay standard then he sells it as a relay. If it meets the requirements of both standards then he can sell it as either, or both. As you said, it doesn't matter what it's called if it's suitable for the application.
Fair enough. I was rather hoping that you might be able to explain what characteristics could make a product satisfy one of the Standards but not the other - since that might have helped us to understand what distinction the writers of the Standards had in their minds. However, it sounds as if you probably can't.
... unless, of course, you had been able to find a 'contactor' which clearly wasn't rated for motor duty (I suspect you could have done), in which case both parts of his assertion would have been wrong, and in need of qualification! Whatever, I think that such things probably 'say it all'
Yes, I certainly could have found plenty of contactors rated for distribution duty, or capacitive switching, or several other utilisation categories.... unless, of course, you had been able to find a 'contactor' which clearly wasn't rated for motor duty (I suspect you could have done), in which case both parts of his assertion would have been wrong, and in need of qualification! Whatever, I think that such things probably 'say it all'
Well, I suppose the sense would be perfect if we called a NO relay/contactor a "contact maker".
True, it does. I think the purpose of the note is just to point out that it isn't a commonly used term in English.
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