TRIDONIC.ATCO | Magnetic chokes

EC, OM, OF and OG magnetic chokes from TridonicAtco are robust and extremely cost-effective solutions with long lives. In these chokes the impedance is matched to the particular lamp type so mercury vapour lamps, sodium lamps and metal halide lamps are guaranteed to operate according to the manufacturers’ specifications and achieve their maximum luminous flux.

Mercury vapour lamps are operated with chokes without additional ignitors. There is also no need for thermal protection as there is no rectifier effect when the lamps come to the end of their lives.

Apart from a choke, sodium lamps – like most metal halide lamps without integrated starters – need an ignitor to provide the ignition pulse to start them. Because of the rectifier effect when the lamp comes to the end of its life the ballasts have to have thermal protection.

The EC, OM, OF and OG chokes are characterised by extremely low power consumption, compact windings and minimal leakage field – and therefore very low noise. The result is a high level of efficiency. Small dimensions and high-quality materials complement their application-related properties.

Application-oriented design

Magnetic chokes from TridonicAtco are available in single or multivoltage versions. With up to three voltage taps in the OM family and up to five in the OG series there are major benefits for luminaire manufacturers because luminaires equipped with these ballasts can be used for different mains voltages in different countries.

Chokes with pulse taps are optimised to operate in conjunction with pulse ignitors from TridonicAtco. These chokes supply very high ignition energy and are also designed for high ignition voltage, resulting in high levels of reliability.

Chokes with power taps are suitable for street lighting that switch at certain times to energy-saving settings.

Chokes with double insulation for safety class 2 luminaires have compact designs because TridonicAtco uses high-quality insulation inside the core. All the versions have a reversible thermal protector rated at 155 °C and a thermal cutout that triggers at 214 °C. The cutout is located in the chokes to ensure reliable thermal contact and rapid triggering.

Design for long life

Because of their high-quality insulation material, coil core and copper wire, chokes in the EC, OM, OF and OG series from
TridonicAtco achieve a maximum life of approximately 100,000 hours of operation, in other words about ten years of constant use at a winding temperature of 130 °C (tw = 130 °C). The winding temperature is the ambient temperature plus the increase in temperature due to the power consumption of the unit. A change in temperature of 10 °C down or up leads to a doubling or halving of the life of the unit.

Constant high quality

The consistently high quality and reliability of magnetic ballasts from TridonicAtco are guaranteed by the use of high-grade materials together with manufacturing processes certified to ISO 9001. Fully automatic manufacture also ensures constant reproducible quality. All the chokes are subjected to 100 % final testing and safety testing.

Type series EC
Because of their small dimensions (41 mm x 31 mm), magnetic chokes of type series EC are particularly useful if only ballasts have to be installed in small cross-sections, such as tube systems. The range covers the operation of high-pressure discharge lamps with wattages up to 150 W. EC units are available with a core length of 90 mm to 160 mm and with either screw or plug-in terminals.

Type series OF
OF ballasts are available for wattages of 250 W and 400 W. With a core length of 40 mm to 90 mm and a cross-section
of 82 mm x 57 mm, this series is positioned between the OM and OG series. Equipped with robust screw terminals in the coil head, the OF ballasts are excellent for compact luminaire designs for the above-mentioned output range.

Type series OM
Magnetic chokes in the OM series are suitable for operating mercury vapour lamps, sodium lamps and metal halide lamps with wattages from 35 W to 400 W. Their compact design makes them ideal for stylish luminaires. The plug-in terminals enable connections to be made quickly and reliably; voltage taps are also easy to select. Versions with various footplates and different mounting options are also available. The cross-section of the OM series is 65 mm x 47 mm for core lengths of 30 mm to 150 mm.

Type series OG
Chokes in the OG series are suitable for high-pressure discharge lamps in the high-wattage range from 250 W to
3,500 W. With a width of 107 mm, a height of 78 mm, 90 mm or 106 mm and core lengthsbetween 30 mm and 210 mm, the OG units are designed for high efficiency and low self-heating. The screw terminals are suitable for wire cross-sections from 1 mm² to 4 mm² and from 1 mm² to 6 mm².