IEC 63522-45:2025

IEC 63522-45 ®
Edition 1.0 2025-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Electrical relays - Tests and measurements -
Part 45: Maximum frequency of operation

Relais électriques - Essais et mesurages -
Partie 45: Fréquence maximale de fonctionnement
ICS 29.120.70  ISBN 978-2-8327-0483-7

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either
IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC copyright
or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or your local
IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite ni
utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie et
les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des
questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez
les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Secretariat Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a publications previews, graphical symbols and the glossary.
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical With a subscription you will always have access to up to date
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, content tailored to your needs.
replaced and withdrawn publications.
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published containing more than 22 500 terminological entries in English
details all new publications released. Available online and and French, with equivalent terms in 25 additional languages.
once a month by email. Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
(IEV) online.
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or
need further assistance, please contact the Customer
Service Centre: sales@iec.ch.
A propos de l'IEC
La Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC) est la première organisation mondiale qui élabore et publie des
Normes internationales pour tout ce qui a trait à l'électricité, à l'électronique et aux technologies apparentées.

A propos des publications IEC
Le contenu technique des publications IEC est constamment revu. Veuillez vous assurer que vous possédez l’édition la
plus récente, un corrigendum ou amendement peut avoir été publié.

Recherche de publications IEC -  IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Découvrez notre puissant moteur de recherche et consultez
La recherche avancée permet de trouver des publications gratuitement tous les aperçus des publications, symboles
IEC en utilisant différents critères (numéro de référence, graphiques et le glossaire. Avec un abonnement, vous aurez
texte, comité d’études, …). Elle donne aussi des toujours accès à un contenu à jour adapté à vos besoins.
informations sur les projets et les publications remplacées
ou retirées. Electropedia - www.electropedia.org

Le premier dictionnaire d'électrotechnologie en ligne au
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished monde, avec plus de 22 500 articles terminologiques en
Restez informé sur les nouvelles publications IEC. Just anglais et en français, ainsi que les termes équivalents
Published détaille les nouvelles publications parues. dans 25 langues additionnelles. Egalement appelé
Disponible en ligne et une fois par mois par email. Vocabulaire Electrotechnique International (IEV) en ligne.

Service Clients - webstore.iec.ch/csc
Si vous désirez nous donner des commentaires sur cette
publication ou si vous avez des questions contactez-
nous: sales@iec.ch.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 2
1 Scope . 4
2 Normative references . 4
3 Terms and definitions . 4
3.1 Terms and definitions related to conditions and operations . 4
3.2 Terms and definitions related to electrical measurements . 5
4 Test procedure . 5
4.1 Purpose . 5
4.2 Procedure . 5
4.2.1 General. 5
4.2.2 Test circuit . 6
4.2.3 Frequency of operation . 6
4.2.4 Monitoring . 6
4.3 Conditions to be specified. 7
5 Evaluation . 7
5.1 General . 7
5.2 Test report . 7
Annex A (normative) Test procedures for particular reed switch (reed contact) types
and similar products . 8
Annex B (normative) Test circuits for maximum frequency of operation . 9
B.1 Test circuits for the measurement of time parameters, coil current and
minimum time of energization of a make contact . 9
B.1.1 Voltage drop method . 9
B.1.2 Current probe method . 10
B.2 Test circuits for the measurement of time parameters, coil current and
minimum time of energization of a change-over contact . 11
B.2.1 Voltage drop method . 11
B.2.2 Current probe method . 12
Bibliography . 13

Figure B.1 – Test circuit with voltage drop method for the measurement of time
parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a make contact. 9
Figure B.2 – Test circuit with current probe method for the measurement of time
parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a make contact. 10
Figure B.3 – Test circuit with voltage drop method for the measurement of time
parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a change-over contact . 11
Figure B.4 – Test circuit with current probe method for the measurement of time
parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a change-over contact . 12

Table 1 – Test circuit . 6
Table 2 – Recommended frequencies of operation . 6
Table A.1 – Test procedures of maximum frequency of operation for reed switch (reed
contact) types and similar products . 8

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
Electrical relays - Tests and measurements -
Part 45: Maximum frequency of operation

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.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
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) IEC draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). IEC takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in
respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s), which
may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent
the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at https://patents.iec.ch. IEC
shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
IEC 63522-45 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 94: Electrical relays. It is an
International Standard.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
94/1022/FDIS 94/1136/RVD
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.

This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/publications.
A list of all parts of IEC 63522 series, published under the general title Electrical relays, can be
found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn, or
• revised.
1 Scope
This part of IEC 63522 is used for testing electromechanical elementary relays
(electromechanical relays, reed relays, reed contacts, reed switches and technology
combination of these) and evaluates their ability to perform under expected conditions of
transportation, storage and all aspects of operational use.
This test defines a standard test method for maximum frequency of operation to ensure the
mechanical, electrical durability and contact failure rate test of electromechanical elementary
relays.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 63522-0:– , Electrical relays – Tests and measurements – Part 0: General and guidance
IEC 63522-8:– , Electrical relays – Tests and measurements – Part 8: Timing
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 63522-0 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1 Terms and definitions related to conditions and operations
3.1.1
maximum frequency of operation
N
max
maximum number of cycles per hour to ensure the mechanical or electrical durability by adding
a pulse input of the rated voltage to the relay coil
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-444:2002, 444-02-12, modified – modification of the term and definition]
3.1.2
energizing voltage
value of the coil voltage, when applied to the coil(s) of a DUT under specified conditions,
enables it to fulfil its purpose
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-444:2002, 444-03-01, modified – modification of the term energizing
quantity]
___________
Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: IEC CDV 63522-0:2024.
Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: IEC CDV 63522-8:2024.
3.1.3
energizing current
value of the coil current, when applied to the coil(s) of a DUT under specified conditions,
enables it to fulfil its purpose
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-444:2002, 444-03-01, modified – modification of the term energizing
quantity]
3.1.4
minimum time of energization
minimum duration of the input voltage to ensure that the relay operates or resets
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-444:2002, 444-05-08]
3.2 Terms and definitions related to electrical measurements
3.2.1
voltage drop
voltage between the terminals of a resistive element being part of an electric circuit due to the
electric current through that element
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-151:2021, 151-15-08]
3.2.2
current probe
device for measuring the current in a conductor without interrupting the conductor and without
introducing significant impedance into the associated circuits
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-161:1990, 161-04-35]
4 Test procedure
4.1 Purpose
The test specifies the maximum frequency of operation applicable to the conditions of
endurance tests by continuously operating and releasing with a pulse input (duty type S3) of
the rated coil voltage.
4.2 Procedure
4.2.1 General
The following test circuit, frequency of operation, monitoring, sample size and acceptable
number of failures during the test shall be specified by the manufacturer:
Additional and alternative maximum frequency of operation test procedures for the particular
types of relays are stated in Annex A.
• Particular reed switch (reed contact) types and similar products are given in Annex A;
• The number of samples shall be at least 5 according to IEC 63522-8, unless otherwise
specified in the detail specification.
4.2.2 Test circuit
The test system shall be energized from an adjustable AC supply for AC coils or equivalent DC
supply for DC coils.
For the energization of the coil, the output impedance of the source shall be chosen to ensure
that the maximum voltage drop and the setting time do not exceed the values prescribed.
The switching voltage shall be prescribed.
Monitoring load 24 Vdc, 10 mA, unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer. The switch for
switching the coil shall be bounce-free.
The measurement of time parameters, coil current, and minimum time of energization shall use
the voltage drop method or the current probe method in Table 1 in accordance with Annex B.
Table 1 – Test circuit
Type of DUT Voltage drop method Current probe method Reference figure
A make contact Figure B.1 Figure B.2 Figure 10 of IEC 62246-1:2015
A change-over contact Figure B.3 Figure B.4 Figure 1 of IEC 63522-8:–

4.2.3 Frequency of operation
The maximum frequency of operation shall be selected from Table 2 by the manufacturer.
Table 2 – Recommended frequencies of operation
Recommended values of frequency of operation (cycle/h)
6; 30; 120; 300; 600; 1 500; 1 800; 3 000; 3 600; 6 000; 7 200; 12 000; 18 000;
36 000; 45 000; 72 000; 90 000; 108 000; 180 000; 216 000; 360 000; 720 000

The pulse pattern shall be a rectangular waveform with duty cycle of 50 % (see IEC 63522-0:–,
C.1.3 Duty type S3), unless otherwise required in the detail specification.
4.2.4 Monitoring
The following checks shall be made:
a) coil current;
b) minimum time of energization;
c) relay operate and relay release;
d) operate time and release time;
e) bridging or transfer time (change-over contact);
f) bounce time.
Discontinuities of less than 10 μs can be ignored unless otherwise specified.
4.3 Conditions to be specified
The conditions to be specified are the following:
a) test circuit (see Table 1);
b) mounting or position of the relay or component;
c) energizing voltage and energizing current;
d) ambient conditions;
e) number of cycles per hour (see Table 2) and duty factor;
f) monitoring voltage and monitoring current;
g) times to be measured;
h) contact(s) to be checked;
5 Evaluation
5.1 General
During the maximum frequency of operation test, the DUTs shall operate and release, and the
operate time, release time, transfer time or bridging time, and bounce time shall be within
specified limits.
5.2 Test report
If this part of the IEC 63522 series is executed as a part of a test record of another standard,
then the results shall be reported as required in the other standard.
Otherwise, it is recommended to issue a dedicated test report according to this document.
The test report should contain all the information necessary to reproduce the test. In particular,
the following should be recorded:
a) identification of the device, e.g. brand name, product type, serial number;
b) maximum frequency of operation;
c) sample size;
d) coil current and minimum time of energization;
e) operate time;
f) release time;
g) transfer time or bridging time (change-over contact only);
h) bounce time;
i) energizing voltage and energizing current;
j) test circuit description;
k) duty cycle.
Annex A
(normative)
Test procedures for particular reed switch (reed contact) types
and similar products
For particular reed switch (reed contact) types and similar products, the test procedures
specified in Table A.1 shall be applied.
Table A.1 – Test procedures of maximum frequency of operation
for reed switch (reed contact) types and similar products
Type of reed switch Reed switches High-voltage vacuum Heavy-duty reed
(contact arrangement) switches
(1 NO) (1 NO) (1 NO)
Test circuit Figure B.1 or Figure B.2
Monitoring load 24 VDC, 10 mA
Sample size 6
Acceptable number of failures 0
Energizing voltage Test coil voltage: 150 % of must-operate value
Coil current Shall be measured
Minimum time of energization Shall be measured
Maximum frequency of operation per h 216 000
Operate time (ms) ≤ 0,5 ≤ 5
Release time (ms) ≤ 0,1 ≤ 3
Operate bounce time (ms) ≤ 0,1 ≤ 3
SOURCE: Table 2 and Annex D of IEC 62246-1-1:2018.

Annex B
(normative)
Test circuits for maximum frequency of operation
B.1 Test circuits for the measurement of time parameters, coil current and
minimum time of energization of a make contact
B.1.1 Voltage drop method
Key
R resistor
NOTE All symbols that are not defined in this figure can be found in the key of Figure B.3.
Figure B.1 – Test circuit with voltage drop method for the measurement of
time parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a make contact
B.1.2 Current probe method
Key
R resistor
NOTE All symbols that are not defined in this figure can be found in the key of Figure B.3.
Figure B.2 – Test circuit with current probe method for the measurement of
time parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a make contact
B.2 Test circuits for the measurement of time parameters, coil current and
minimum time of energization of a change-over contact
B.2.1 Voltage drop method
Key
U energization supply
S switch, bounce-free
B battery
R to R resistors
1 4
R shunt resistor
S
T trigger input
Y and E vertical deflection input
NOTE In order to distinguish between bridging and transfer time, the following ratios for the resistors are commonly
used: (R = 1, R = 2, R = 2/3, R = 1).
1 2 3 4
Figure B.3 – Test circuit with voltage drop method for the measurement of time
parameters, coil current and minimum time of energization of a change-over contact
B.2.2 Curre
...