I am trying to calculate the current required to energize and hold a 24 VAC relay coil while switching no load. I did the same for a 24 VDC relay coil using ohms law which is very simple and matched my measured current. But my calculation for the AC coil did not match my measured current value from my ammeter.
Measured values of AC relay coil:
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DC coil resistance: 13.5 ohms
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Coil inductance (while manually latched/energized): 168 mH
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Operating voltage: 26.2 VAC RMS
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Operating current: 262 mA
I created a series RL equivalent circuit of the relay coil by first working out the inductive reactance of the coil at 50 Hz to be 52.78j ohms, giving an overall impedance of 54.48 < 75.65 degrees (in polar form). Then simply V/Z, 26.2/54.48 = 480 mA.
This is considerably more than what I physically measured!
I think the reason for this is because I have measured the DC coil resistance instead of the AC resistance. If I work my calculation back from my known measured values, my coil resistance should be 85.94 ohms (this is assuming my inductance measurement is accurate as I used an inductance meter).
If anyone thinks there is something else I'm doing wrong, please let me know. If you agree I need to measure the AC resistance, can I do this accurately without an oscilloscope?
Best Answer
An AC relay is not a simple inductor, there's a shading coil, and that's going to mess up your inductance measurement unless you did it at AC frequency. eddy currents will skew the result too,
What are the differences between an AC and DC coil relay?