Current consumption of AC solenoids

An AC solenoid features a higher pick-up force than a comparable DC solenoid at the same stroke values. The current consumption of an AC solenoid is determined by the inductance. As the stroke increases, the inductive resistance decreases, thus causing increasing power consumption. This means that a high electric current flows at the switch-on instant. AC solenoids consume far more power at the switch-on instant - at maximum air gap - than they do with the armature picked up.