Hi,
While I was cleaning my room I found this coil looking thing and so I surf the net and found out it was called a common mode choke. I have a bunch of this lying around, what are they for? Can I use them for filtering my supply rails? Are they for AC or DC? What should I do with them?
JojoD
While I was cleaning my room I found this coil looking thing and so I surf the net and found out it was called a common mode choke. I have a bunch of this lying around, what are they for? Can I use them for filtering my supply rails? Are they for AC or DC? What should I do with them?

JojoD
JoJoD,
those are very good for blocking common noise (i.e. noise which is present on both wires).
You can use them in your mains AC line input, or if they are beefy enough at the secondary of your transformer before the rectifier.
Make shure the coil doesn't get saturated by to much current going through, as it won't work anymore. Because of this it is not recommanded to use it with DC current.
Dick.
those are very good for blocking common noise (i.e. noise which is present on both wires).
You can use them in your mains AC line input, or if they are beefy enough at the secondary of your transformer before the rectifier.
Make shure the coil doesn't get saturated by to much current going through, as it won't work anymore. Because of this it is not recommanded to use it with DC current.
Dick.
they can make nice effieient switching inductors for a small SMPSU....been doing that for a long time...
JoJod,
no don't rewind these chokes but use them in your AC line filter as well !
For instance, put then in series with each half of the commonmode choke or after your rectifier diodes for noise surpressing.
As you may understand these chokes work only with high frequencies usually those out of the audio bandwith.
Dick.
no don't rewind these chokes but use them in your AC line filter as well !
For instance, put then in series with each half of the commonmode choke or after your rectifier diodes for noise surpressing.
As you may understand these chokes work only with high frequencies usually those out of the audio bandwith.
Dick.
no don't rewind these chokes but use them in your AC line filter as well !
Alright! I knew it all along, these things still has some use. 😀
Thank you...
JojoD
they've got a lot of uses...filtering line noise...such things...might find a few outta monitors and such
I just asked a friend who has a pc repair shop to give me his junk pc psu... the chassis is good for test psu, the caps inside are also good for filtering and then, there are lots of those toroid looking filters! 😀
If you guys have some sample implementation for such.
JojoD
If you guys have some sample implementation for such.
JojoD
carefull!
JojoD,
you must ensure that those chokes are really meant for common mode filtering
Check the winding directions on both coils on that torroid. If they are not wound for common mode use, then the flux in the ferrite core would cause huge currents to flow in the core, heating it up and cracking it. The heat could burn the insulation off the windings as well, and cause a mains short. I know because this is exactly what happened to me! I wound the coils for a common mode choke the wrong way and had some nice fireworks
As I understand it, a common mode choke must have negligible flux in the core during normal operation (i.e. the fluxes from the two windings must cancel each other). Only in the presence of common mode noise is some net flux generated in the core. What this means essentially is that the choke acts as a short for differential mode AC, and a high inductance for common mode AC line noise, thus allowing it to pass the normal (diff-mode) AC and block the common mode noise.
- Ashwin
JojoD818 said:Hi,
I also have a bunch of those small toroidal looking chokes that came from pc psu. I was hoping I can re-wound it and make use of it in filtering mains or my rails just before the bridge rectifier.
JojoD
JojoD,
you must ensure that those chokes are really meant for common mode filtering


As I understand it, a common mode choke must have negligible flux in the core during normal operation (i.e. the fluxes from the two windings must cancel each other). Only in the presence of common mode noise is some net flux generated in the core. What this means essentially is that the choke acts as a short for differential mode AC, and a high inductance for common mode AC line noise, thus allowing it to pass the normal (diff-mode) AC and block the common mode noise.
- Ashwin
ashwin,
thanks for the insight. I myself am very careful especially when tinkering with mains wiring.
JojoD
thanks for the insight. I myself am very careful especially when tinkering with mains wiring.

JojoD
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