Soft Starters: What are the key benefits of soft start? 

Soft start enhances motor start performance in many ways including:
- smooth acceleration without the torque transients associated with electro-mechanical reduced voltage starters.
- voltage or current is applied gradually, without the voltage and current transients associated with electro-mechanical reduced voltage starters.
- lower start currents and/or shorter start times because constant current control gives higher torque as motor speed increases.
- easy adjustment of start performance to suit the specific motor and load.
- precise control over the current limit.
- consistent performance even with frequent starts.
- reliable performance even if load characteristics vary between starts (eg loaded or unloaded starts).

In addition to superior starting performance, soft starters also provide a range of features not available from other reduced voltage starters. This features include areas such as:
- soft stop (which helps eliminate water hammer)
- braking
- motor and system protection
- metering and monitoring
- operating history and event logs
- communication network integration

The extra features built into soft starters can reduce the overall installed cost of the equipment and reduce the long-term maintenance requirement.