Short Minus Circuit and Overloading

Short minus circuit and Overloading are two different things. While the difference between Short circuits and Overloading is quite obvious, sometimes there may be a situation, where one may get confused between the two. Here, we are going to discuss the difference between Short minus circuit and Overloading in detail.

What is Short Circuit?

If any short current exists in any branch of a network or if zero resistance is available at any point in a network or while measuring voltage or current at any particular point, then this condition is known as a short circuit. It causes the decrease of current and voltage concerning other branches of that particular network.

Short Circuit is when a wire or other conductor becomes energized due to an unintended or accidental electrical connection.

Short Circuit is in series with a load and the current is less than normal because it flows through the zero resistance of the short circuit. If there is very high resistance in parallel with the load then a greater portion of full line voltage appears across the parallel high resistance. Therefore, the least voltage drop occurs across the load. So I L and V L are no more related by voltage equation (V=IR).

Functions of Short Circuit

Short Circuit is used to test the continuity of a conductive path or to see if any short circuit is present in a network or to see if any shorted wire exists in that particular network. This testing can be done by simply making use of a Multimeter. It is also used for over-current protection for electronic devices and electric distribution systems. 

What is Overloading?

Any condition, where more current than permitted flows through an electrical device, which may cause damage to the device, is known as Overloading. If the line voltage supplied to a load is more than the rated voltage then it also causes overloading of the line as well as the load. It may also result in overheating of both line and load.

Functions of Overloading

Overloading is used to check the voltage in a circuit, which may be either on the line or back of a meter. It is also observed during Over Current protection of loading.

Where Short Circuit and Overload Meet?

Both short circuit and overload are related to one branch of the network or load, where there is an unintended connection. Further over current condition causes a short circuit and over current condition causes overload condition. Therefore, it may happen that also at some point there occur both short circuit and overload conditions. For any such situation, it is better to have a backup of both short circuit and overload conditions.

Short Circuit and Overloading: Difference

1. In Short Circuit there is zero resistance available in the entire network, but, in Overloading, there is no resistance in one branch of a network and another branch has given resistance.
2. Both conditions occur when current and voltage vary from given one to another branch of a network or load. But, when it comes to the comparison of both conditions Short circuit happens because of a sudden change (jump) in voltage and current across that particular branch or else overload can be defined as a gradual increase in current concerning voltage caused by overloading.
3. In Short Circuit the resistance is zero in the entire network or load, but, in Overload, some branch of the network has given resistance. Therefore, it is clear that there is no common point for both conditions.
4. Both conditions cause a drop in current and voltage in the respective branch of a network or load, but, due to short circuit current and the voltage drop across the entire system or load whereas it is only for a particular branch of the same.
5. In Short Circuit there occurs a change (jump) in voltage and current across that particular branch but in overload there occurs a gradual increase in current concerning voltage throughout the network.
6. In the case of Short Circuit there exists a definite cause due to which it occurs, but, in the case of Overload, the cause is not well defined.
7. In a short circuit there occurs a sudden change (jump) in current and voltage across that particular branch of a network or load, but, in case of overload there occurs a gradual increase in current concerning voltage throughout the network or load.
8. In the short circuit there does not exist any resistance at all but in overloading it is only for some branch of a network or load that has given resistance and the rest other branches are free from any resistance.

Conclusion

Short circuit and overload are two different things. While the difference between Short circuits and Overloading is quite obvious, sometimes there may be a situation, where one may get confused between the two. Here, we are going to discuss the difference between Short minus circuit and Overloading in detail.