RC snubber circuit design and calculations for inductive loads
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2020
- You should not switch inductive loads without some form of flyback or snubber protection.
Using simulations we identify the problem of using switches or relays to control inductive loads. We then see how to include an RC (resistor-capacitor) snubber circuit to absorb energy from the inductor and therefore reduce transient voltages. We then go through the calculations step-by-step to choose appropriate RC values for your circuit.
Note to my students: RC snubber circuits are not an examinable topic for GCE A level electronics but are a useful topic to be aware of, particularly if you plan to switch inductive loads (e.g. solenoids) in your project work. The video draws on some topics that appear may appear in GCE A level electronics and physics.
Useful references:
www.learningaboutelectronics.c...
electronics.stackexchange.com...
Music: www.bensound.com
I've been looking for this for quite a while. Thank you!
This is snubber simplied. Thanks for the video. I did deduce something from your explanation, the RC network can also be calculated from the inductance voltage formula thus: VL = L I/(RC), by substituting those calculated values and the inductance value into above formula the predetermined spike voltage arrived at.
Thank again
excellent analysis!
Super useful video. I was just learning about how to design a snubber circuit for a TRIAC in an AC application. The catch there is that you also have to keep in mind the reactive power that will be flowing through the snubber when the switch is not closed.
Glad it was helpful!
Name of software you used ?
Circuit Wizard
Excellent. Very good explained. But when using high frecuencies switching, calculating snubber circuit I think it would be more complex.
it's well simplified example and calculations were very easy to understand, thank you
Sir. Excelent work.
It’s gonna be so usefull for school. Thank You very much.
My best regards from Mexico 🇲🇽
You're welcome. I'm glad it's useful to you.
Great video. Thank you. What does the power dissipated in the snubber resistor look like as a function of switching frequency? The 1.2A is the current charging the capacitor, but not the current through the snubber circuit when the switch turns back on and the capacitor discharges through the switch, forming the loop Rsn, Csn, and Rsw (sn= snubber, sw = switch). So, Rsn sees both charging current and the discharge current. What is the best way to compute the power dissipation of this snubber resistor?
Very well explained! Thanks
Thankyou for uploading this. Really appreciate the work. I was wondering, which software is being used for demonstration?
Thanks a lot, very nice and simple explanation.
Excellent explained ! Thank you !
Glad it was helpful!
A very well explained snubber video, probs the best on YT! I love well explained videos! Everything can be simplified and well taught. I'm curious about one thing however. If our coil had quite a few turns (say primary of a transformer), it would have its own resistance. Let’s say our coil measured 10 Ohms for example. Wouldn't this greatly affect the calculations due to the current restriction of the coil itself?
Apologies, I failed to have mentioned that we are pulsing the switch (so transistor say, like a chopper circuit). Then we have rate of change!
Very informative .. I was in search of this and I do have a doubt that is ,
Why we need to keep the snubber circuit current equal to the current through he main solenoid circuit?
Very good explanation. Thank you teacher. But, how I calculate r c when connecting a battery directly in a motor with a big current like 40A?
Nice job. You made it simple and easy.
Thank you very much for an easy explanation of a complicated subject. I appreciate the flow of explanation was fantastic. I was just curious if the calculations remain the same with 230V AC signal? Could you refer some site on this subject.
Further, if Snubber is in parallel to the load, will it be better option.
Maybe I should post a new video for 230 VAC supplies as you're not the first person to ask a similar question. Okay, let me think about it first. As for whether the snubber should be parallel with the switch or inductive load, I have always (rightly or wrongly) positioned the RC snubber across the switching element but assumed it could also be placed across the load. Thinking about this further, having the RC snubber across the load is a more direct attempt at protecting the vulnerable component (the switch) rather than across the load (which nonetheless should protect against a large transient). On the other hand, across the load would give the whole circuit protection against transients. Wikipedia and several other references show the RC snubber across the switch. Of course, a diode snubber would have to be placed in reverse parallel across the inductive load.
I found this reference that may be of interest to you - www.bpesolutions.com/bpemanuals/Snubber.pdf
Interestingly, they recommend the RC snubber to be placed across the inductive load "for best results" but mention that across the control contacts (the switch) "will also work". It's a shame they don't explain this any further
@@PizzeyTechnology Thanks
Very useful explanation, thank you very much.
Hi (from Egypt). That's very informative. However, I have a solenoid (240 VAC, 6 watt, resistance across its contacts is 3.68 kohm) that I plan to control with a solid state relay. The solenoid has no data sheet available (I don't know the inductance nor the current). Is there a way to calculate an approximate values of R and C?
Hello my friend. This is a very usefull explanation. I wonder... how this calculus change when there is frecuency? Greetings from colombia!
brilliant. i am making a scr control circuit for my welder. this helps a lot
Nice video.
I have a question though, the energy stored in induction is 0.36J, then we use this same amount of energy to workout the capacity of the capacitor. Because of the existence of bottom R(the one 41.7 ohms), some of the energy is consumed by resistive loss. So I assume there is a step of the calculation proving the energy consumed on R41.7, for some reason, has to equals to the enemy provided by battery AFTER switch is turned off. Would it be possible to elaborate a bit on this?
Thanks a lot
Thank you. This was really informative.
thanks for the great video. I still see RC packages on EMRs and mercury relays. Sometimes I see a flyback diode instead on the EMR coil. Any advantage to RC snubber vs flyback diode? Any reason to use both? Thanks!
thanks so much from Valencia, Spain!
Thank you too!
Excellent, thanks alot for the video !
Great video. As you doubtless know, a flyback diode across the coil will clamp transients to around .6 volts. I suppose a snubber network is used in situations where a diode can't be used, like in an ac circuit.
correct!
Excelente trabalho
Outstanding. Thank you.
Very helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome. Glad to hear that people find the videos useful.
Thank you for a great explanation.
Glad it was helpful!
great explanation sir
THANKYOU SIR
Thank you very much for the video. Few Questions though
1. The power rating of the 10 Ohm resistor should be 1.2*1.2*10 = 14.4 Watt ?
2. If I am using the Inductive load of a Transformer, How do I calculate the saturation current of the transformer.?
3. I want to maximize the output voltage of a pulse transformer, How do i achieve that through circuit design?
Thanks in Advance
Thanks very much for this awesome video, could you please explain snubber circuit in switching power supply.
Excellent explanation Sr!!
Glad you liked it
Thank you so much for such a useful explanation. I have a 30A 12VDC relay that is drived with a bjt, a flyback diode and microcontroller. When I turn on/off the relay my circuit works properly but when it is connected to a motor or contactor after a while the microcontroller freezes. Is it good to add this circuit to the coil for solving the problem?
Have you added bypass capacitors on your power rails? You may need to do this to reduce noise on the power rails otherwise your microcontroller can be unstable.
Will a snubber circuit recharge battery if it was switching a DC motor on and off? Making the whole system more efficient?also increase battery run time?
Regarding the RC snubber network, is it mainly to discourage charge from building up on the negative plate of the capacitor? As well as bleed any charge that might build up during normal operation?
very very useful .thanks my master
Thank you very much for this very informative video. I have a question. Right after opening the switch all voltage will drop across a resistor since a capacitor will be shorted and then all the voltage will be transferred across a capacitor during transient and then no current will flow through a snubber circuit. But then how does a capacitor discharge ? As per the simulation, we can see a voltage spike of 50 V acorss the switch and so across the capacitor, but after that moment voltage dropped down to 12 volt, so how did capacitor get discharged from 50 V to 12 V ? Through a resistor? If yes, then what should be the direction of current flow ?
great explanation
Thanks. I tried playing around with a snubber circuit, but it seems my 50MHz scope is not fast enough to see the transient voltage spike. My effort was kinda pointless anyways. I don't know how to effectively calculate a universal motor's inductance. My circuit just uses the default 100nF/100R values and with my scope, I guess ignorance is bliss because it works. Thanks for the upload.
-Jake
50MHz should be fast enough unless the spike is in nanoseconds
Very Nice, I would like to take this to next step. Can we snub the inductor instead of the switch or both at the same time. If we added a diode in parallel with the inductor; How can we explain this type of snubber across the inductor with RCD? This is problem I am having on a project now.
really clear thanks a lot !
Congratulations from Brazil.
It's nice to know my videos are being watched all around the world. Greetings from the UK.
Great explanation ,How do I calculate resistor and capacitor for an inverter circuits between the drain of MOSFETs and ground
Abu, thanks for your appreciative feedback. Can you post a link showing the actual circuit?
Does this have a time constant tau within which it will remove the spike voltage??
Nice explanation with calculation
beautiful explanation, thank you sir
Thanks and welcome
Very nice explanation. I am designing a contact point triggered ignition, i replaced the hv contact with an nchannel mosfet 3205, triggered by p channel mosfet and the regular kettering contact point, i am having a problem i kept on burning the 3205 mosfet i already placed a diode between drain and source on 3205 but when installed it burns. Can you create a video of this using mosfet? Thanks a lot.
very useful information...Thanks lot...few doubts.... 1.if we are not using current limit resistance means what will be I?Can we take motors Coil reistance and Rds on as Resistance.....2.What will be voltage rating of snubber capacitor (C volt=V*2) 3.Power rating of snubber resistor
Thanks good work.
Is this method appropriate to calculate the snubber for AC? Specifically a 230V AC contactor coil. Currently i use 100R (3W) and 100nF (440V X1 class) and it mostly solved the problem of EMI (IRQ false triggering and MCU resets) but i still occcasionally get false triggering of the IRQ line.
The AC contactor coil (230V AC) is controlled by a smaller 10A relay which has freewheeling schottky diode on it coil (5V DC). The snubber is installed in parallel to the contactor coil.
Good question but I'm always wary in replying to questions or making specific recommendations for circuits that relate to AC mains voltages. I hope that you understand. Have you tried probing the IRQ line with an oscilloscope to see what is going on?
very clear explanation, new subscriber here : )
Thanks, I appreciate the positive feedback.
I'm using an electromagnet that is rated at 12 volts at 0.5 amps. Checking with the Oscilloscope the half inch ball bearing hits the aluminum foil every 0.8 seconds and arcs that are visible. I purchased both a electrolytic capacitor kit and 1 watt resister kit. Hopefully the wattage on the resisters is more then enough. I take it on your resister and capacitor values you pick the next highest value out of the kit?
Sir what about switching frequency(ex. 16kHz) incase of inverter
Please let me know
great vidio, thank you Please tell me about the simulator software etc.. It looks useful.
help a lot! very great and useful explanation!
I'm glad to help. Thanks for the feedback.
@@PizzeyTechnology you are my papa
btw, this can be the protection for mosfet or any transistor right?
Yes, but best in mind other options exist. For example, a free wheeling diode (reverse biased across the load) if using a DC supply.
@@PizzeyTechnology Yes I’ve use the reverse diode in the inductor.
I have to make a boost converter for the fast-charging capacitor circuit, therefore I can't dissipate all the energy on the diode.
very well explained. can you also explain the working of brake chopper circuit. looking forward.
Have you seen this article? It gives quite good coverage of how chopper circuits are used. www.kebamerica.com/blog/brake-chopper-circuits-vfds/
Great video but what should be the max voltage for snubber cap ? 50v or 5kv ? and also the power of snubber resistor 1/3w or a 1watt resistor ?
If the snubber limits the voltage to 50V this may give a good starting point when specifying components. If the snubber works as intended, there would be no high-voltage transients in the circuit. As for the resistor wattage I'll leave that one for you to calculate. It's been a while since I watched this video but hopefully I've given sufficient information.
Really clear and concise video thank you. Would love to know the simulation software being used.
Thanks. It's Circuit Wizard, a program widely used in schools.
@@PizzeyTechnology Will have a look ive heard of livewire and micro cap played with falstad but want something more polished and detailed. Ive used kiCad for basic schematics and pcb layouts.
Usefull ty so much!
Thanks, now i am ready to over protect my circuits :)
Hi, what in case it's a switching circuit where there is a time limitation where the capacitor needs to be charged and discharged in some predefined time set as per the frequency of switching.....
Thank you sir.
Hi could you help with a problem ...how to calculate a rc snubber for a bidirectional dc motor operating at14v that is damaging the switches controlling it ( power window circiut) thank you
How should we calculate resistir power? Considering that peek power will be very high and impractical to use that value for selecting a resistor.
thank you so much 💛😍
Thank you very much.
No problem, Omid. I'm glad to help.
I like that you included calculation. One question, for example i need to install snubber in my circuit which controls motor via relay (because micro controller restarts from the motor spike). i don't know the inductance of motor. Should i use LCR meter to measure the inductance of motor? Is that a correct way? If not then can you calculate the Energy from the spike using oscilloscope? Thanks.
thanks for the explanation. I saw some circuit with R first and then C, are they going to have same response.
You can expect the same response. I'm glad that you found the video useful.
No they will not have same response. Please check dv/dt at midpoint of R and C when it is connected in RC and CR fashion. They are different. I am having the same query.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the capacitor would discharge much quicker. Don't take my words for it. I'm a newb.
Awesome!
Thanks sir , peace upon to you and your family ,
hi , how do you calculate the power dissipation of the resistor , watts
When you close the switch at about timestamp 11:51 why doesn't the simulator show the exponentional delay (due to the L/R delay) during the fall of the voltage??
THANKS MUCH!!
Sir,
I am using a 3 phase contactor to switch a 25kvar capacitor at 440V(33A at 440V), can u suggest the right values of capacitor and resistance that can be used as a snubber to supress arc
If in doubt I would pay a trained electrician to do that job. Sorry I could not be of help.
Does the current thru the circuit not depend on the total impedence of the circuit? Why do you use only the resistor value?
Thanks 🇧🇷
Hi, many thanks for the video. Excellent explanation. I am working on a similar project but instead of the switch I am trying to protect a diode. How can I calculate the R and the C ? My max voltage is 2600VDC and maximum current 214A. I am using the Infineon D3001N68T.
Thank you
Thanks for your explanations. May I learn how did you calculate 50v over the switch?
It is not calculated, it is the maximum voltage the switch can withstand
yes, but in this state it will filter only the peak voltages up to the withstand voltage, which in reality may be much higher, in which case the snubber will be insufficient.
@@necipsahin8377 not sure if I understand your point, but in this case, the maximum voltage AFTER filtering will be 50 V, so there is no danger
Which V rating should the cap have?
Hello, can you please explain to me why there's a need to place a resistor in series with the capacitor? Can't I already get by with only a capacitor? Thank you.
Dear, i need 1000vdc x 20a its possible use snubber in contactors AC ?
Hello, i need a snubber for my circuit but do not have the specific ressistors and cappacitors on hand, what if i were to use a much higher value? would it still funcion?
I assume the voltage rating of the snubber cap is at least 50v ??
great VIDEO!!
Why do you have choosen the whole inductance for the calculation ? As far as I know you choose the leakage inductance because this is the part that you can´t use (magnetic loss into air) and it comes back as the spike to the circuit. Of course I don´t know If we are talking about a transformer or air coil here ? If it is the second you are right just wanted to clearify things. :)
In this example I assumed a single coil. There should be no leakage inductance that would be associated with coupling a primary and secondary coil. Is that right?
Of course you are right ! With air coil I meant single coil too. I should have tell it more clearly. Leakage can only occur with two or more coupled coils. It doesn´t make a difference by the way If the medium is air or iron or ferrite as anybodycould think that because of my answer above. Single coil never can or will have a leakage inductance only coupled coils. The medium just changes the leakage value itself.
Here you know the length of coil that is 500mH what if I want to design it for my water pump in that situation i do not know the lengh of its winding and i am unable to get any data related to it then how should I do this calculations.
Sir , rc sunbber curcite is paller of igbt how to calculated the resistance, capacitor value pl. Send video
Excellent explanation.
A question: Is this method also valid for AC?
Thank you so much.
Yes.
For AC usually use varistors (MOV) to clamp the spike. Although it is good idea to install fuse or braker in line, as varistor will drain access voltage to ground/neutral side.
@@commenter5469 Thanks for the information. It is very useful.
How do we calculate for AC mains voltage
then when am I to use the formular C= 1/freq x Vsquared, coz you didn't mention the switching frequency?
Concise!
Thanks. I'm glad you found it useful, and concise!
how to make this snubber with resistor and capacitor in parallel ?
Nice approach and very simplified but it has some physics error which is the energy was being stored in the inductor will not be fully delivered to capacitor and will be less because both resistors will consume it while transfering to steady state after resonance period , am I wrong ?! ...
hi...pls clear me if i'm wrong.
why you considered 50v in the calculation of Capacitance finding. as the circuit is operating with 12v supply.
Also, you have calculated the circuit current by taking 12v voltage.
I think if took 50v instead of 12v calculation will be wrong. as we taking calculating value wtih 12v in all formulas.
Hello Shivm, those are good questions but you may have missed an essential point -- the circuit is capable of raising the voltage above the supply voltage. In the example I chose 50V but I could have chosen some other arbitrary (but acceptable) voltage. The snubber then suppresses the potentially high voltage caused by the inductor. Without the snubber, transient voltages can easily exceed the supply voltage by many times. Does that answer your question?
@@PizzeyTechnology Agreed thanks for the nice explanations.
same snubber calculation for any type of switch (mosfet, igbt)?
Well, technically you do not calculate a circuit but the energy involved in the inductors` circuit, so I do bilieve you're correct. Keep in mind thou that a MOSFET might have different vaulues than a switch does.
is this the same process for Traic + fan too ?
Quite different. A triac circuit uses an RC network to create a phase offset to control the triac.
How to calculate required watt of the resistor?
What should be the wattage rating of the resistor? Doesn't I^2 * R = 1.2^2 * 41.7 = 60.048 W seem a bit much for a transient? How should this be calculated?
Calculating the peak (transient) power is clearly being very safe and likely over-specifies the resistor rating. Calculating average power might be more acceptable but we have not defined the switching frequency in this circuit. What do you think?
@@PizzeyTechnology The only thing I've been able to find regarding this is that the power dissipated in the snubber resistor is equal to the sum of the dissipation during the turn-on and turn-off of the bridge. I was hoping you knew of an easy way to obtain this as your video is very informative and is quite excellent.
@@sayinpower3 you could try 2 * V^2 * f * C for a crude estimate (V=voltage on the cap, C = capacitance, f=frequency). this only takes into account one charging and one discharging per cycle. real dissipation might be higher due to ringing, if the system is underdamped.
What if I use very high frequency switching then there is no time for the capacitor to discharge completely, how to deal with that???
Good question but not something I feel qualified to comment on (and have people rely on my answer). How about you research specific applications with a higher switching frequency - switched mode power supplies perhaps?
Maybe an NPN transistor, or a small mosfet pararell to the capacitor, so when the switch is turned on, it shorts the capacitor?