PF leading or lagging

[GinaB]

I cant seem to get the hang of figuring out if the power factor is leading or lagging. Can someone recommend where I can find a good explanation?

 

[knight1fox3]

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=23754

http://www.usna.edu/Users/cs/vincent/suppnotes/EE301Topic26.pdf

 

[iwire]

here you go

http://www.labsanywhere.net/circuit/lectures/lect12/lecture12.php

 

[Wildsoldier PE]

Probably your confusion is about who comes first voltage or current. You need to use the voltage as your point of reference. Then the current leads or lags the voltage. When is leading means that the current leads the voltage then you have a capacitive load. When is lagging means that the current lags the voltage so you have an inductive load. Usually inductive loads are cause by motors. You want to keep the complex power as close to real power. That's why you add a capacitor to the load side that way it provide magnetizing vars. Making the opposite site of the power triangle smaller. Then the hypotenuse become closer to the adjacent side of the power triangle. When fixing the power factor basically you want your voltage and current to be in-phase.

On purely resistive load the voltage and the current are said to be in phase, pf=1.

I don't know if this makes sense to you.

Let me know if this helps!

 

[EngInNJ]

Easy way to remember.

ELI the ICE man.

E (voltage) is before (leads) I (current) in L (inductive) circuit.

I (current) is before (leads) E (voltage) in C (capacitive) circuit.

 

[EngInNJ]

Ahhh.

also:

Generator exporting vars is operating in lag. If it is importing vars is in lead.

clear as mud?