Zero crossing contactor and method of operating

A method of operating a contactor, the method comprising:

• receiving, in a controller module, at least two operational characteristics of the contactor, with each operational characteristic representative of a delay time;
• determining, in the controller module, a total contactor time delay defined by a timing estimation to operably disconnect or connect a power supply and an electrical load, based on the delay time of each operational characteristic, a temperature of a contactor coil, a contactor coil energizing supply characteristic, and an error correction value defined by a difference between an effective toggling of the power supply by the contactor along an AC waveform and a zero-crossing voltage of the AC waveform of at least one previous contactor disconnection or connection;
• determining a contactor initiation time based on at least one delay time and an alternating current (AC) waveform of the power supply, such that an expiration of the total contactor time delay coincides with the zero-crossing voltage of the AC waveform;
• and
• initiating, by the controller module, a toggling of the power supply by the contactor at the contactor initiation time.

A contactor assembly comprising:

• a contactor switch selectably connecting an input with an output;
• a contactor coil operably coupled to the contactor switch and configured to actuate the contactor switch;
• at least two sensors configured to measure an operational characteristic of the contactor assembly comprising a contactor coil temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the contactor coil and a contactor coil energizing supply sensor configured to measure a contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
• and
• a controller module configured to:
• receive at least two electrical signals from the at least two sensors, with each electrical signal representative of a delay time;
• determine a contactor time delay as a summation of a set of delay timings based upon the at least two electrical signals comprising at least two of:
• the temperature of the contactor coil;
• the contactor coil energizing supply characteristic;
• or
• an error correction value signal defined by a difference between an effective toggling of a power supply by the contactor along an AC waveform and a zero-crossing voltage of the AC waveform of at least one previous contactor disconnection or connection;
• and
• initiate at least one of a disconnecting or connecting of the input and the output by the contactor switch at an initiation time prior to the zero-crossing voltage of an alternating current (AC) waveform of a power supply wherein the initiation time is based upon the contactor time delay.