Fairford Electronics is one of the two founding companies who pioneered and brought the optimizing digital soft starter to market in the early 1980's.

With this unrivalled history it is no exaggeration to say that we have successfully designed and sold Soft Starters into every known application conceived for fixed speed AC induction motors. 

This gives rise to literally thousands of Case Studies for all manner and size of applications and companies around the World. There are still Fairford Soft Starters built in the 1980's running without problem where they were fitted.

The Case Studies you can view and download on this Website are just a small representation of our expertise and experience. They are also another good reason why you should choose Fairford Soft Starters - absolutely unrivalled experience and reliability. 

Fairford Soft Starters help to reduce carbon emissions. 

Fairford Soft Starters are helping to cleanly produce 6 Mega Watts of electricity in a Plymouth landfill gas extraction site. 

Fairford continues green energy success with DFE Soft Starter on water trubine system at mill house in Guildford.

Fairford is underlining the benefits of its soft starters for use in green energy systems with the application of an DFE soft starter to an innovative hydro power system installed by Derwent Hydroelectric Power at the Mill House in Guildford, Surrey. 

Energy demands on compressors, refrigerators, freezers & chillers can be reduced by up to 18% immediately with HFE. 

Reducing energy costs and corporate carbon emissions in the food industry can be accomplished easily and cost effectively, with fast ROI, using Fairford’s HFE single- phase power-optimising soft starter. 

Fairford Single Phase Soft Starter gives domestic elevator occupants a smoother ride up steep 125FT long slope 

In an unusual application for a soft starter, Allard Lifts Ltd has used a Fairford HFE single- phase soft starter to control an elevator up a steep (240) 125 ft long slope in a private residence at Salcombe in Devon. 

Fairford delivers environmental solution to power supply problems at 25% of the cost of up rating the sub-station. 

Fairford soft starters are overcoming the problems of limited supply capacity and high peak demand charges experienced by Evergreen Security Shredding.

Environment Agency chooses Fairford Soft Starters for flood prevention project on river polmorla in Cornwall 

Fairford’s QFE soft starters have been chosen by the Environment Agency for a flood prevention scheme on the Polmorla River in Wadebridge. 

‘SOFT STARTERS WITH A TWIST!’

Low Cost Fairford Soft Starter replaces Star.Delta arrangements, overcoming problems of damaging current surges. 

Fairford expands Indian business, providing 32 Soft Starters for main bombay water treatment plant. 

Fairford Electronics has expanded its business on the Indian sub-continent, working with its long-standing partner Jayshree Electron PVT to provide soft starting and soft stopping control on aerator motors at the MMC water treatment plant that serves Bombay, the most populous city in India, with over 18-million inhabitants.  

Commitment to energy efficiency pays off for UK's largest manufacturers of vacuum cleaners. 

The value of energy surveys was underlined recently at Numatic International following the visit of a consultant from the South West and Action Energy Scheme. The findings of the survey have resulted in the fitment of six Fairford QFE soft starters to moulding machines at Numatic’s plant.

Ensuring the right economics for motor control in the water industry is critical for cost reduction & competitiveness 

While variable speed drives (VSD) are indispensable for motor control in many water treatment applications, there are an equal – if not greater – number of applications that do not demand the complexity and, hence, the cost of VSD’s.

Fairford Soft Starters "Slip into Gear" for Environment Agency in retrofit projects at somerset pumping stations. 

Fairford’s QFE series of optimising soft starters have been selected for three key pumping projects recently undertaken by the Environmental Agency.

Fairford's Gold Card upgrade is a low cost way for users to get more functionality from installed Soft Starters. 

Users of many types of soft starters can upgrade them to achieve increased functionality at low cost, simply by replacing their existing control cards with Fairford’s newly launched Gold Card. 

South West Water employs 250kW Fairford Soft Starters to help safeguard supply.

South West Water is employing 200kW and 250kW QFE soft starters from Fairford to safeguard pumping operations at its Pynes Treatment Works on the outskirts of Exeter.

Solar powered water treatment plant uses Fairford Energy Optimising Soft Starters as part of demand side management. 

Sixteen Fairford QFE soft starters have been installed on the drive mechanisms of aeration paddles, as part of a $4.7 million solar power project to reduce escalating energy costs at a wastewater treatment plant operated by SC-OR in Oroville, California.  

Fairford Soft Starter overcomes "Shear" Agitation at Bayer Cropscience. 

Employing a Fairford QFE soft starter to overcome shock loads when starting an agitator in a 15 tonne hopper has enabled Bayer CropScience to solve a problem of mechanical Shearpin breakage, which often resulted in a lengthy (approx 4 hours) and costly digging out of the hopper material due to it solidifying. 

Unique application of Soft Starters reduces resin impregnation process from 1/2 hour to a little as 10 mins. 

In one of the most original uses for a soft starter, Newage AVK SEG is employing the unique inductive load control feature of a Fairford QFE unit in a system that cuts the time for resin impregnation of alternator windings from an average of half an hour to as little as 10 minutes. 

Soft Starters provide cost savings and prevent failures of power transmission components in quarrying applications 

Why use soft starters for starting electric motors in quarries when variable speed drives (VSD) appear so cheap? The simple answer to this question is that the majority of motor control applications in quarries are fixed speed and do not demand the complexity and, hence, the cost of VSD. 

DFE Soft Starters Help Safeguard the River 

Fairford's New low cost DFE Soft Starters chosen for water extraction in harsh environment of a devon quarry. 

Fairford Soft Starters "Slip into Gear" for the Envrionment Agency in retrofit projects at Somerset pumping stations. 

Fairford’s QFE series of optimising soft starters have been selected for three key pumping projects recently undertaken by the Environmental Agency. 

Reversed Fairford Soft Starts provide effective synchronisation in Central American Wind Farm Projects 

Fairford QFE soft starters are providing a very effective, low cost and reliable solution for synchronising the operation of wind turbines to distribution networks - smoothly without harmful inrush currents and mechanical damage, in several major wind farm projects in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. 

Soft Starters remain the first choice for starting fixed speed AC motors, despite the falling cost of VSDs. 

One of the most frequently asked questions today in the drives market is: “Why bother with soft starters when variable speed drives (VSD) perform the same function at competitive cost?” For manufacturers of soft starters this question could be difficult. However, no one is panicking - why? 

Fairford soft starters just don’t know when to give up 

Product quality does count, as evidenced by a recent example where a Felcos soft starter, manufactured by Fairford Electronics over 20 years ago, was returned for repair. The problem as it turned out had nothing to do with the soft starter and much to do with a faulty motor. 

Solar powered water treatment plant uses Fairford energy optimising soft starters as part of demand side management

Sixteen Fairford QFE soft starters have been installed on the drive mechanisms of aeration paddles, as part of a $4.7 million solar power project to reduce escalating energy costs at a wastewater treatment plant operated by SC-OR in California.

Fairford’s 6 wire ‘in the delta’ connection saves UK’s leading animal feed manufacturer substantial rewiring costs.

The ability of Fairford soft starters to connect directly into the six wire delta connection of a motor has improved system reliability and saved BOCM Pauls, both the considerable cost and the time of rewiring a complete motor starting system on a 1.5 ton (3.5m3) vertical mixer for animal feeds. 

Fairford Soft Starters the cure for ‘Excessive Torquing’

The application of Fairford soft starters to a number of 22kW mixer motors at Kernow Coatings in Cornwall is overcoming a problem of excessive torque on start-up that was causing stress and fracture of the motor mounting frames, and affecting the overall reliability of the mixing process itself. 

Energy Saving

UK Industry is missing out on opportunities for energy saving in it’s largest area of operation

RMC Selby avoids the jams with Fairford Electronics Soft Starters.

The ability of modern electronic starters to provide greater operating reliability, improved protection and easier maintenance in even the most arduous of applications has been proven by Fairford Electronics with the recent application of a QFE Soft Starter to a hot stone elevator at RMC's Selby quarry in Yorkshire.

Soft Starters are the ideal cost saving tool for mechanical engineers.

Statistics show that over 90% of the motors in UK industrial use have no form of control, other than simple electro-mechanical switching. The result of this in maintenance and equipment replacement costs to industry is huge. 

Soft Starters retrofit solution saves replacement cost of 90kW Slip Ring Motor and Electrical Installation Space.

The ability to replace a five stage, 90kW slip ring motor starter system with a Fairford QFE soft starter has enabled one of Europe’s largest processors of mineral based products to update a Lopulco mill as part of a major capital investment programme, reducing cost, improving reliability and with minimum requirements on electrical installation space.  

Fairford Soft Starters connect directly into the Delta, saving users the cost and times of rewiring motors.

The ability of Fairford’s QFE and XFE soft starters to connect directly into the six wire delta connection of AC motor starters can improve system reliability and relieves users of the considerable cost and the time of rewiring complete motor starting systems.