Some of you may think I changed my mind and decided to blog about old rock bands, AC-DC being one of my favorite old time rock bands. But not the case! As more power is consumed in our digital world there is more talk of delivering higher voltage DC current instead of AC. So now connector suppliers are being asked about high voltage DC connectors.
I have been asking around about what we would do differently when designing a power connector for higher DC voltage rather than AC. The first place to look for me was UL 60950, which offers guidelines for creep and clearance as voltages are elevated. Nothing there speaks specifically to high voltage DC. Most folks agree. It doesn’t matter if it is AC or DC voltage, higher voltages in either current require the same adherence to strict guidelines for circuit isolation and safety. One comment I heard was that you might expect slightly higher temperatures with direct current. But we’d like to hear from folks who have ideas on features that might be unique to a higher direct current connector, like 350 volts