[Amps] New Variaic Question

[Rich]

I am building my first amp , now starting on the power supply. It will
have a 240v 10 amp Powerstat. I have a 4 pole "latching" relay that I
think I will wire so it has a safety drop out , then a DPDT relay with
my soft start resistors. The last variac that I set up to control
voltage for a tesla coil always caused a problem when I plugged it in.
It would blow to 20 amp circuit breaker even though the system pulled
less than an amp at idle.  I would have to try several times to get it
to stay on line. The only thing wired in was the variac and a 24v
control transformer. 
I am hoping to avoid any problems with the HV system as I build it, will
the soft start system take care of the instantaneous inductive load that
it appears I was getting with my other variac ?
 
Rich /  kd0zz