Safety Capacitors First: Class-X and Class-Y Capacitors

A Special Class of Capacitors

Class-X and Class-Y capacitors are safety-certified capacitors generally designed and used in AC line filtering in many electronic device applications. These safety capacitors are also known by other names, including EMI/RFI suppression capacitors and AC line filter safety capacitors. (EMI stands for electromagnetic interference and RFI stands for radio-frequency interference; RFI is simply higher-frequency EMI.)

An example of a Class-Y capacitor

 Class-X and Class-Y capacitors help to minimize the generation of EMI/RFI and the negative effects associated with received EMI/RFI.

In order for these capacitors to perform their EMI/RFI filtering tasks, they are directly connected to the AC power input, that is, the AC “line” and the AC “neutral” (see Figure 2 below). And because of this direct connection to the AC voltage, the capacitors may be subjected to over voltages and/or voltage transients—lightning strikes, power surges. Thus, capacitor failure is a very real possibility.

When a Class-X capacitor, also referred to as an "across the line capacitor"—the capacitor placed between line and neutral—fails because of an overvoltage event, it is likely to fail short. This failure, in turn, would cause an over current protective device, like a fuse or circuit breaker, to open. Therefore, a capacitor failing in this fashion would not cause any electrical shock hazards.

If a Class-Y capacitor, also known as the "line to ground capacitor" or "the line bypass capacitor"—the capacitor placed between line and ground—fails short, this could lead to a fatal electric shock due to the loss of the ground connection. Class-Y safety capacitors are designed to fail open. A failure will cause your electronic device to be subjected to the noise and interference that the capacitor would normally filter out, but at least there will be no fatal electric shock hazard.

Shilpa Sharma

A.P., ECE