SIST EN IEC 63129:2020

Determination of inrush current characteristics of lighting products (IEC 63129:2020)

This document describes a method, based on measurements combined with calculations, to
determine specific characteristics of the inrush current of single and/or multiple lighting products
of the same type. Lighting products include the following:
• light sources with integrated controlgear,
• controlgear,
• luminaires.
The inrush current characteristics that are determined are
• the peak inrush current,
• the inrush current pulse duration.
This document applies to lighting products connected to low-voltage 230 V AC 50/60 Hz
electrical supply networks.
NOTE In Clause 6 it is stated that the methodology applies reference values for the reference (line) inductance and
the reference (short circuit) peak current which reflect the typical situation in a 230 V AC installation.

Bestimmung der Eigenschaften des Einschaltstroms von Beleuchtungsprodukten (IEC 63129:2020)

Détermination des caractéristiques du courant d'appel des produits d'éclairage (IEC 63129:2020)

L'IEC 63129:2020 décrit une méthode, fondée sur des mesures associées à des calculs, pour déterminer les caractéristiques spécifiques du courant d'appel d'un et/ou de plusieurs produits d'éclairage du même type. Les produits d'éclairage comprennent:

   
• les sources lumineuses à appareillage de commande intégré;

   
• les appareillages de commande;

   
• les luminaires.

Določitev značilnosti vklopnega toka pri izdelkih za razsvetljavo (IEC 63129:2020)

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 22-Jun-2020
• ICS: 29.140.99 - Other standards related to lamps
• Technical Committee: IESV - Lamps and related equipment
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 18-Jun-2020
• Due Date: 23-Aug-2020
• Completion Date: 23-Jun-2020
• Ref Project: EN IEC 63129:2020 - Determination of inrush current characteristics of lighting products

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
01-september-2020
Določitev značilnosti vklopnega toka pri izdelkih za razsvetljavo (IEC 63129:2020)
Determination of inrush current characteristics of lighting products (IEC 63129:2020)
Bestimmung der Eigenschaften des Einschaltstroms von Beleuchtungsprodukten (IEC
63129:2020)
Détermination des caractéristiques du courant d'appel des produits d'éclairage (IEC
63129:2020)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN IEC 63129:2020
ICS:
29.140.99 Drugi standardi v zvezi z Other standards related to
žarnicami lamps
SIST EN IEC 63129:2020 en
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020


EUROPEAN STANDARD EN IEC 63129

NORME EUROPÉENNE

EUROPÄISCHE NORM
June 2020
ICS 29.140.01; 29.140.99

English Version
Determination of inrush current characteristics of lighting
products
(IEC 63129:2020)
Détermination des caractéristiques du courant d'appel des Bestimmung der Eigenschaften des Einschaltstroms von
produits d'éclairage Beleuchtungsprodukten
(IEC 63129:2020) (IEC 63129:2020)
This European Standard was approved by CENELEC on 2020-05-26. CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC
Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre or to any CENELEC member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the
same status as the official versions.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.


European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2020 CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC Members.
 Ref. No. EN IEC 63129:2020 E

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
EN IEC 63129:2020 (E)
European foreword
The text of document 34/636/CDV, future edition 1 of IEC 63129, prepared by IEC/TC 34 "Lamps and
related equipment" was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and approved by CENELEC as
EN IEC 63129:2020.
The following dates are fixed:
• latest date by which the document has to be implemented at national (dop) 2021-02-26
level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement
• latest date by which the national standards conflicting with the (dow) 2023-05-26
document have to be withdrawn

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Endorsement notice
The text of the International Standard IEC 63129:2020 was approved by CENELEC as a European
Standard without any modification.
In the official version, for Bibliography, the following note has to be added for the standard indicated:
IEC 60669-1 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60669-1

2

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020




IEC 63129

®


Edition 1.0 2020-04




INTERNATIONAL



STANDARD




NORME



INTERNATIONALE
colour

inside










Determination of inrush current characteristics of lighting products



Détermination des caractéristiques du courant d'appel des produits d'éclairage




















INTERNATIONAL

ELECTROTECHNICAL

COMMISSION


COMMISSION

ELECTROTECHNIQUE


INTERNATIONALE




ICS 29.140.01; 29.140.99 ISBN 978-2-8322-8205-2




Warning! Make sure that you obtained this publication from an authorized distributor.

Attention! Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez obtenu cette publication via un distributeur agréé.

® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
– 2 – IEC 63129:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 8
5 General notes on measurements . 8
6 Inrush current measurements . 8
7 DC method (default method) . 10
7.1 Measurement setup . 10
7.2 Determining the value of the adjustment resistance . 11
7.2.1 Determining the value of R . 11
adj,1
7.2.2 Determining the value of R . 12
adj,k
7.3 Measurement and calculation of the inrush current characteristics . 13
7.3.1 Inrush current characteristics for a single DUT (k = 1) . 13
7.3.2 Inrush current characteristics for multiple DUTs . 14
8 Alternative AC method . 14
8.1 General . 14
8.2 Determining the value of the adjustment resistance . 15
8.2.1 Determining the value of R . 15
adj,1
8.2.2 Determining the value of R . 16
adj,k
8.3 Measurement and calculation of the inrush current characteristics . 16
8.3.1 Measuring and calculating the inrush current for a single DUT . 16
8.3.2 Measuring and calculating the inrush current for multiple DUTs . 16
9 Additional alternative methods . 17
Annex A (informative) Application of inrush current characteristics . 18
A.1 General . 18
A.2 Matching of DUT inrush current characteristics with switch or MCB
specifications . 18
Bibliography . 19

Figure 1 – Determination of the inrush current pulse durations t and t . 9
H10 H50
Figure 2 – Measurement setup for the DC method (default method) . 10
Figure 3 – Switching unit. 11
Figure 4 – Typical current rise and voltage decrease as a function of time after loading
C (step c)) followed by turning on the switching unit (step e)) as described under
1
step f) . 12
Figure 5 – Determination of I (ignoring the current peaks for t < 100 µs) . 14
max
Figure 6 – Measurement setup for the AC method (alternative method) . 15
Figure 7 – Addition of m DUTs to the measurement circuit (both DC and AC methods) . 17

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
IEC 63129:2020 © IEC 2020 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________

DETERMINATION OF INRUSH CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS
OF LIGHTING PRODUCTS

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC Publication(s)”). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
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expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of patent
rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 63129 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 34: Lamps
and related equipment.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Report on voting
34/636/CDV 34/679/RVC

Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
– 4 – IEC 63129:2020 © IEC 2020
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
IEC 63129:2020 © IEC 2020 – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
Inrush current is the transient current drawn by an electrical device after it is switched on via
an independent mains switch, the maximum amplitude of which is often much higher than in
steady state during normal operation. Inrush current occurs because of charging capacitances
during power up of a device.
Quantities such as peak inrush current and inrush current pulse duration are key parameters to
characterize the inrush current, which are important to consider when selecting the switchgear
of a lighting installation. This information is indispensable for electric installation planners,
lighting designers and installers to be able to guarantee compatibility of a lighting system with
other installation components like switches and overcurrent protection devices.
Careful selection of overcurrent protection devices, like circuit breakers, is important when
dealing with high inrush currents. The overcurrent protection should react quickly to overload
or short circuit but should not interrupt the circuit when an inrush current flows (i.e. false
tripping). Another unwanted adverse effect that could occur when inrush current is not
considered is welding of contacts of mechanical or electromechanical switches (manual or
automatic).
The aim of this document is to determine the peak inrush current and the inrush current pulse
duration of one or multiple lighting products of the same type.
This can serve as valuable information for installers in making the correct selection of
components like switches and overcurrent protection devices in an installation or conversely for
determination of the maximum number of lighting products of the same type that can be applied
in an installation with switches and overcurrent protection devices (see Annex A).
The resulting functional compatibility between switchgear and lighting products in an installation
is the main rationale for this document.
The rated voltage of lighting products which can be tested with this document is limited to 230
V AC only. Future inclusion of other voltages (for example 100 V AC, 120 V AC, 200 V AC, 277
V AC, 347 V AC) is not excluded.

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
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DETERMINATION OF INRUSH CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS
OF LIGHTING PRODUCTS



1 Scope
This document describes a method, based on measurements combined with calculations, to
determine specific characteristics of the inrush current of single and/or multiple lighting products
of the same type. Lighting products include the following:
• light sources with integrated controlgear,
• controlgear,
• luminaires.
The inrush current characteristics that are determined are
• the peak inrush current,
• the inrush current pulse duration.
This document applies to lighting products connected to low-voltage 230 V AC 50/60 Hz
electrical supply networks.
NOTE In Clause 6 it is stated that the methodology applies reference values for the reference (line) inductance and
the reference (short circuit) peak current which reflect the typical situation in a 230 V AC installation.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
bidirectional diode thyristor
DIAC
two-terminal thyristor having substantially the same switching behaviour in the first and third
quadrants of the current-voltage characteristic
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-521:2002, 521-04-66]
3.2
bidirectional triode thyristor
TRIAC
three-terminal thyristor having substantially the same switching behaviour in the first and third
quadrants of the current-voltage characteristic
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-521:2002, 521-04-67]

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
IEC 63129:2020 © IEC 2020 – 7 –
3.3
circuit-breaker
mechanical switching device, capable of making, carrying and breaking currents under normal
circuit conditions and also making, carrying for a specified duration and breaking currents under
specified abnormal circuit conditions such as those of short circuit
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-441:2000, 441-14-20]
3.4
control gear
controlgear
unit inserted between the power supply (IEV 151-13-75) and at
least one light source, which serves to supply the light source(s) with its (their) rated voltage or
rated current, and which can consist of one or more separate components
Note 1 to entry: The control gear can include means for igniting, dimming, correcting the power factor and
suppressing radio interference, and further control functions.
Note 2 to entry: The control gear consists of a power supply (IEV 151-13-76) and a control unit.
Note 3 to entry: The control gear can be partly or totally integrated in the light source.
Note 4 to entry: The terms "control gear" and "controlgear" are interchangeable. In IEC standards, the term
"controlgear" is commonly used.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-845:—, 845-28-048]
3.5
I
inrush
inrush current
transient current associated with energizing of electrical apparatus or components
EXAMPLE Lighting products, transformers, cables, reactors.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-448:1995, 448-11-30, modified – In the definition, "electrical apparatus
or components" replaces "transformer, cables, reactors, etc." now given as examples.]
3.6
t
Hx
inrush current pulse duration
time period over which the value of the inrush current is larger than x % of the peak inrush
current
Note 1 to entry: See also Figure 1.
Note 2 to entry: Any RF noise should be disregarded.
Note 3 to entry: By this definition, the inrush current pulse duration t is the full width at half maximum (FWHM)
H50
of the current pulse.
Note 4 to entry: In this document values of x = 10 and x = 50 are used.
3.7
I
peak
peak inrush current
maximum of the absolute value of the inrush current
Note 1 to entry: The peak inrush current is typically reached when switch-on happens at the point in time that the
mains voltage is at its peak.
Note 2 to entry: See also Figure 1.
Note 3 to entry: Any RF noise should be disregarded.

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SIST EN IEC 63129:2020
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4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
DIAC bidirectional diode thyristor
DUT device under test
MCB miniature circuit breaker
NTC negative temperature coefficient thermistor
TRIAC bidirectional triode thyristor
k number of DUTs (as represented by the corresponding measurement setup)
n maximum number of DUTs (intended to be characterized)
I reference (short circuit) peak current

ref
L reference (line) inductance

ref
I short circuit peak current (for k DUT)

adj,k
L inductance (for k DUT)
k
R adjustment resistance (for k DUT)

adj,k
I maximum current (as measured)

max
t time at which maximum current I is reached

max max
U maximum voltage (as measured at t )
max max
I peak inrush current (for k DUT)
peak,k
t inrush current pulse duration (for a threshold of x % of the peak inrush current and k
Hx,k
DUT)

5 General notes on measurements
In this document the term DUT (device under test) is used for the lighting product for which the
inrush current characteristics are determined according to the requirements of this document.
Controlgear shall be operated at maximum power (100 % light output) and with actual loads or
dummy loads as specified by the manufacturer.
6 Inrush current measurements
For the measurements, a reference (line) inductance of L = 100 µH and a reference
...