How much AC ripple in a DC power supply is too much?
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By Chuck Yung
EASA Senior Technical Support Specialist
Editor’s Note: PDFs of this article are
available in English and Spanish in the
“Resource Library” of www.easa.com.
l l l l l
Once upon a time, DC motors oper-
ated from batteries or motor-generator
sets. For the past 50+ years, most DC
motors have operated from solid state
power supplies – rectifying AC power
to DC power. When motors began
operating from rectified power, one
of the problems experienced was the
presence of AC “ripple” in the leads
that were supposed to deliver DC
power to the machine. Absent a spe-
cific standard, a recurring question is:
“How much is too much?” Before I try
to suggest an answer to that question,
let’s talk about what AC ripple is and
explain why it is not desirable.
One source describes AC ripple as
“the small unwanted residual periodic
variation of the direct current (DC)
output of a power supply … from an
alternating current (AC) source.” We
express ripple factor as the ratio of the
root mean square (rms) AC voltage
over the DC voltage. That is usually
expressed as a percentage. Since it is
easier to measure the peak-peak volt-
age when using an oscilloscope, the
ripple is often reported as the peak-
peak AC to DC voltage ratio.
Full-wave rectification
Those of you with experience using
(or troubleshooting) rectified power
Electrical Apparatus Service Association, Inc. • Copyright © 2016 •
supplies, such as the typical service
center test panel, know that full-wave
rectification is “better” than the output
from a half-wave rectifier. The formu-
las below illustrate this:
Full wave: Vpp = I/2fC
Half wave: Vpp = I/fC
where Vpp is peak-peak voltage
ripple; I is current; f is frequency of
the AC power, C is capacitance.
The full-wave rectifier can produce
130% of the input AC voltage, whereas
the half-wave rectified supply only
produces about 90% of the AC input
voltage.
Aside from all the issues that AC
ripple causes for radios and TVs, there
is a more immediate concern for those
of us involved with electric motors.
First, both the AC and the DC current
contribute to heating of the windings.
While DC current is carried uniformly
across the conductor, AC current is
carried on the surface of the conductor.
The higher the frequency of the AC
current, the closer to the surface. So the
heat generated by the additional AC
current should be cause for concern.
Evaluating the rms current, we
would use:
Second, the greater the AC ripple,
the more commutation is affected. One
symptom of excessive AC ripple is a
bluish coloration to the commutator
instead of the normal chocolate patina.
Another is chronic sparking, despite
our best efforts to adjust brush neutral.
When brush neutral, spring pressure,
brush spacing and brush grade all
check out as correct, sparking at the
brush-to-commutator interface could
be a symptom of voltage ripple.
Bigger not always better
Modern drives use a capacitor
to smooth out the AC ripple. In a
well-designed drive, the capacitor is
sized for normal load conditions. As
the load decreases, the voltage ripple
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One source describes
AC ripple as ‘the small un-
wanted residual periodic
variation of the direct cur-
rent (DC) output of a power
supply … from an alternat-
ing current (AC) source.’
We express ripple factor
as the ratio of the root
mean square (rms) AC volt-
age over the DC voltage.
That is usually expressed
as a percentage. Since it
is easier to measure the
peak-peak voltage when
using an oscilloscope, the
ripple is often reported as
the peak-peak AC to DC
”
voltage ratio.
increases. An overly robust power
supply could have more voltage
ripple than a drive that is operating
near capacity. With that in mind, here
are some classic indications of an AC
ripple problem:
• A field supply that seems to
produce sparking under field-
weakening but not at base speed.
• A motor operating from a grossly
oversized drive. (“Gee, we only
need a 150 hp motor, but let’s
use this 400 hp drive we have in
stock.”)
• A DC motor that sparks when
running light product, more than
when running with a heavier load.
An example might be an extruder
or mixer that is used for different
consistencies of product.
Ideally, a technician can use an
oscilloscope to evaluate the power
supply. In the real world, that is not al-
ways possible. A low-tech preliminary
check is to use an AC ammeter and a
DC ammeter to measure the current in
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How much AC ripple in a DC power supply is too much?
Continued From Page 1

the field leads and then in the armature

leads. If there is AC current observed, From IEEE 519 for THD limits for voltage and current
document how much, at what volt-
age, and under what load conditions.
Table 10.2, p77
If field weakening results in a greater
Low-Voltage System Classification and Distortion Limits
ratio of AC current to DC current, that
suggests that the output capacitor size Special General Dedicated
could be changed to better reflect the Applications1 System System2
load. The same comparison should be Notch Depth 10% 20% 50%
made for the armature circuit – over
THD (voltage) 3% 5% 10%
the normal load range encountered.
Notch Area (AN) 3
16 400 22 800 36 500
Using true-rms ammeter
Document the AC and DC volt- NOTE: The Value AN for other than 480V systems should be multiplied by V/480
ages, as well as currents, for the field 1 Special applications include hospitals and airports
supply as well as the armature sup- 2 A dedicated system is exclusively dedicated to the converter load
ply. Using a true-rms ammeter and a 3 In volt-microseconds at rated voltage and current
conventional peak-reading meter is
common practice when checking for
harmonics on an AC power source. Table 10.3, p78
If the true-rms meter yields a higher Current Distortion Limits for General Distribution Systems
reading, that is a strong indication (120V Through 69,000V)
that there are harmonics (i.e., fre-
quencies besides the line frequency)
Maximum Harmonic Current Distortion in Percent of IL
present. The literature suggests that Individual Harmonic Order (Odd Harmonics)
anything over 5% harmonic content Isc/IL <11 11≤h<17 17≤h<23 23≤h<35 35≤h TDD
should be dealt with. IEEE 519 sets a
<20* 4.0 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.0
limit of 5% for harmonic distortion of
voltage and a limit of 3% for a single 20<50 7.0 3.5 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.0
harmonic. The impedance of the sys- 50<100 10.0 4.5 4.0 1.5 0.7 12.0
tem makes such a finite number for 12.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 1.0 15.0
100<1000
current harmonics difficult to assign.
(See tables 10.2 and 10.3 of IEEE 519 >1000 15.0 7.0 6.0 2.5 1.4 20.0
for THD limits for voltage and current, Where: Isc = maximum short-circuit current at PCC
respectively.) IEEE 113: Test Procedures IL = maximum demand load current (fundamental frequency component) at PCC
for Direct-Current Machines, which was
allowed to lapse, suggested a limit of
With adjustable speed drives conditions, a drive engineer should be
2% for voltage ripple in DC voltage
(ASD), which most of us call VFDs able to improve the capacitor size to
supplies. It further stated that, “If
(variable frequency drives), filters or smooth out the ripple.
a capacitor is used to block the DC
line reactors can be used to improve A low-tech method to reduce the AC
component of voltage, it should be of
the waveform. ripple is to place a full-wave bridge rec-
sufficient size so that the AC voltage
tifier between the power supply and the
drop across the capacitor is less than Limit of 5% to 10% motor to further rectify the DC power.
2% of the AC component of the volt- As for how much AC ripple is too Be careful, though, when considering
age measured.” much in a DC supply, a limit of 5% to this method. The rectifier will “fix” the
10% at full load has been suggested output polarity. In other words, regard-

“
With adjustable speed
drives (ASD), which most
of us call VFDs (variable
frequency drives), filters or
line reactors can be used to
by various engineers. The 5% limit is
based on engineering texts and con-
sistent with harmonics standards (see
“Coil Pitch and Search for the Perfect
Sine Wave,” Currents, January 2004).
Should you find a larger AC ripple,
the drive manufacturer should be con-
less of the polarity of the DC into the
rectifier, the polarity of the output will
remain constant. There are other ap-
plications where that knowledge can
solve other problems, but make sure
your customer is not switching the field

”
polarity to reverse a small motor. l
improve the waveform. sulted. Knowing the actual operating

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