Motor switching and coil drive
The 3RT2518-1AR60 is a SIRIUS size S00 power contactor rated for AC-3 motor duty at 16 A, handling 7.5 kW on a 400 V three-phase line. That AC-3 rating governs switching of squirrel-cage motors during starting and running — the 16 A figure is the continuous current the main poles carry with the motor at full load, not the inrush. The 400 V AC coil pulls in on 50 Hz and accepts 400–440 V on 60 Hz, so a single coil variant covers both mains frequencies across Europe and North America without a coil swap.
Contact arrangement and panel fit
Four main poles split as 2 normally open and 2 normally closed — the NO pair switches the motor phases while the NC pair can break a separate control circuit or a second load. Screw terminals on the S00 footprint keep wiring straightforward for a panel builder: the 61.5 x 50.0 x 77.5 mm envelope fits standard DIN-rail mounting in a control cabinet, and the compact S00 frame leaves room for adjacent overload relays or auxiliary contact blocks in the same row.