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What are the differences between LC and CLC chokes

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ChrisA

Member
Joined 2008
Sunsun22 said:
What is "bot-anchor-ish"?
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I think he mead "Boat anchor like". A large chunk of iron.

With modern chokes there really is no deference in the chokes but it you were designing an LC filtered you'd pick a different choke then if designing a CLC filter. I think because the selection of the exact proper choke matters so much more in an LC design. The a CLC it is just "the bigger the better"
 
S

schiller

Member
Joined 2005
A choke suitable for an LC sypply must withstand a great amoumt of ac current flow, because there is no first smoothing capacitor.
It must have a lot more turns (x3-4) than a common one Used in CLC's. To accomodate the large coil without using very thin wire, one needs a bigger core.

So you end up with a choke 2-3 times the weight and size for a given inductance and DC current in comparison to one for CLC.
 
Wavebourn

Wavebourn

Member
Joined 2006
wavebourn.com
Sunsun22 said:
If this the case, what would happen if we use a CLC choke in a LC PSU?
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It will saturate on peaks. As the result, louder hum. Dependence of current on voltage of chokes is not linear. It looks like a S-shaped curve due to core saturation. The core increases inductance of the choke, but it can't work on an endless magnet flux: the higher is the flux, the lower is it's efficiency. You want your choke to work on straighter part of the curve, because higher swing would cause sharp loss of filtering properties. Also, insulation of CLC-type chokes can be made for less voltage swing than is needed for LC-type choke.
 
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dave slagle

Member
Joined 2003
Wavebourn said:
If you use CLC choke in a LC application it will be more bot-anchor-ish. CLC chokes are made to support higher flux swing without saturation. That means more of copper and iron is needed for the same DC current. Higher weight, bigger size.
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I think you have that backwards.

a CLC choke will be undersized and prone to saturation and buzz if used as an LC choke. The exception is a swinging choke which is designed to take advantage of saturation.

dave
 
Wavebourn

Wavebourn

Member
Joined 2006
wavebourn.com
dave slagle said:
I think you have that backwards.

a CLC choke will be undersized and prone to saturation and buzz if used as an LC choke.
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Yes, it was a typo. CLC choke sees less swing each half-period because rectified voltage is already smoothed by the 1'st capacitor, this is obvious and don't need explanations. What needs explanation, is what is needed for the choke to accept higher swing, that I explained.
 
B

Bandersnatch

Member
Joined 2003
Wavebourn said:
If you use CLC choke in a LC application it will be more bot-anchor-ish. CLC chokes are made to support higher flux swing without saturation. That means more of copper and iron is needed for the same DC current. Higher weight, bigger size.
Click to expand...

I think you've got it backwards. LC service has lots more variation in the flux at any given DC output. Hence the use of swinging chokes, they saturate gracefully with a slow drop in L instead of reaching the limit and going air-cored.
cheers,
Douglas
 
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