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Can anyone explain to me why there are 2 maximum voltages/amperage for both AC and DC like below ?

10A 250VAC 10A 125VAC

10A 30VDC 10A 28VDC

I was thinking that the one on the left is for normally open and the one on the right for normally closed ?

enter image description here

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Can you upload a picture?. One will be european and one US/UL I guess. –  Spoon yesterday
    
Check edit pls. –  Darren yesterday
    
i never heard of european / US DC voltages ?! –  Darren yesterday
    
My guess is that these are voltages that are common in the application of these relays, so the ratings are specified at those points. DC ratings are much lower because AC voltage crosses zero and extinguishes arcing, where DC arcs at similar voltages can persist causing much more rapid wear-out of the contacts. –  John D yesterday
    
Yes that I know, but why different DC voltages ? –  Darren yesterday
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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

NC vs NO is is usually a different current at the same voltage (if the ratings are, in fact different).

More likely the differences you cite would refer to compliance with different safety agencies.

For example, this one:

enter image description here

Should not be used at more than 125VAC if you need compliance with Canadian and US safety requirements-- the cURus component registration. The other rating refers to other safety agencies.

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Lol I picked the same one by chance. –  Spehro Pefhany yesterday
    
Yeh :), the DC is my main concern. 30v and 28v. what difference would it make as long as your not using your country AC –  Darren yesterday
    
Use the 28V rating in the US/Canada because that is where it was tested (to cURus standards) to not cause a fire. It may not make 100% sense, but this is CYA sometimes rather than EE. –  Spehro Pefhany yesterday
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Ahh, so CQC saftey limits are 250vAC or 30vDC and cURus safety limits are 125VAC or 28VDC ? –  Darren yesterday
    
So in other words the max limit for DC is 30V, but just to be safer the max limit is 28V ? –  Darren yesterday
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up vote 3 down vote

Don't know about the compliance thing mentioned here however mechanical relays have different AC and DC ratings - this is standard! Now why... When the relay opens there will be an arc between the contacts.

If you are running AC (say 50Hz) the current goes down to 0A A 100 times per second, after this happened once the arc is gone. When you run DC there is no interruption to the current flow so the arc eats away on the contacts for longer. This is why the DC rating is always much lower.

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