Documentation sections

RC Snubber Calculator — Damp Switch-Node Ringing from Two Measurements

POSThttps://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate

Slug rc-snubber. Size an RC damping snubber from the ringing you measure: the ring frequency alone and with a known capacitor added give the parasitic capacitance and inductance, the snubber resistor and capacitor, the power the resistor dissipates and the time constant, checked against the minimum on-time.

Inputs

Send every one of these in inputs, in the units shown. Most are required: a call without one is refused (400) and costs nothing; one the calculator can do without takes the default shown. An input outside its range is still computed and flagged in the provenance.

Inputs of rc-snubber
Name	Unit	Range	Default	Description
ringFrequencynumber	MHz	at least 0.001	100	Frequency of the ringing at turn-off, measured across the switch with no snubber fitted
addedCapacitancenumber	pF	at least 0.001	100	A known capacitor placed across the switch for the second measurement; choose it to roughly halve the ring frequency
ringFrequencyAddednumber	MHz	at least 0.001	50	Ring frequency measured with the test capacitor across the switch; it must be lower than the first
capacitorMultiplenumber	×	at least 0.1	4	Snubber capacitor as a multiple of the parasitic capacitance; 2 to 4 is usual, and more damps harder but dissipates more
switchVoltagenumber	V	at least 0.001	48	Voltage the snubber capacitor charges to at each transition, normally the voltage across the open switch
switchingFrequencynumber	kHz	at least 0.001	500	How often the switch turns on and off; the capacitor charges and discharges once each per cycle
minOnTimenumber	ns	at least 0.001	100	Shortest time the switch stays on; the snubber capacitor discharges through the resistor and the switch during it
eSeriesnumber	none	0 … 96	0	Rounds every part to the nearest value in the series; the response and the export are the rounded design's.One of: 0 Ideal values · 12 E12 (10%) · 24 E24 (5%) · 48 E48 (2%) · 96 E96 (1%)

Outputs

Returned in values, by key. A value that is unbounded or undefined is null.

Outputs of rc-snubber
Field	Unit	Description
snubberResistanceheadline	Ω	The loop's characteristic impedance, rounded to the part series when one is chosen
snubberCapacitance	pF	n times the parasitic capacitance, rounded to the part series when one is chosen
resistorPower	W	Resistor Power (C_s·V²·f_sw)
parasiticCapacitance	pF	Parasitic Capacitance
parasiticInductance	nH	Parasitic Inductance
characteristicImpedance	Ω	Characteristic Impedance of the Ringing Loop
timeConstant	ns	Snubber Time Constant (R·C_s)

Calling it

Calculate: one call, the request and response in full, and its errors.
Batch: this calculator with others, or a sweep, in one request.
Solve for a target: the value of one input that brings an output to a target.

curl -X POST https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate \
  -H "X-API-Key: $RFTOOLS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "slug": "rc-snubber",
    "inputs": {
      "ringFrequency": 100,
      "addedCapacitance": 100,
      "ringFrequencyAdded": 50,
      "capacitorMultiple": 4,
      "switchVoltage": 48,
      "switchingFrequency": 500,
      "minOnTime": 100,
      "eSeries": 0
    }
  }'

import rftools

client = rftools.Client()  # reads RFTOOLS_API_KEY, or the key `rftools login` saved

result = client.calculate("rc-snubber", {
    "ringFrequency": 100,
    "addedCapacitance": 100,
    "ringFrequencyAdded": 50,
    "capacitorMultiple": 4,
    "switchVoltage": 48,
    "switchingFrequency": 500,
    "minOnTime": 100,
    "eSeries": 0,
})
print(result.values)
print(result.warnings, result.provenance.formula_ref)

const response = await fetch("https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "X-API-Key": process.env.RFTOOLS_API_KEY,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "slug": "rc-snubber",
    "inputs": {
      "ringFrequency": 100,
      "addedCapacitance": 100,
      "ringFrequencyAdded": 50,
      "capacitorMultiple": 4,
      "switchVoltage": 48,
      "switchingFrequency": 500,
      "minOnTime": 100,
      "eSeries": 0
    }
  }),
});
console.log(response.status, await response.json());

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	body := []byte(`{
	  "slug": "rc-snubber",
	  "inputs": {
	    "ringFrequency": 100,
	    "addedCapacitance": 100,
	    "ringFrequencyAdded": 50,
	    "capacitorMultiple": 4,
	    "switchVoltage": 48,
	    "switchingFrequency": 500,
	    "minOnTime": 100,
	    "eSeries": 0
	  }
	}`)
	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate", bytes.NewReader(body))
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("X-API-Key", os.Getenv("RFTOOLS_API_KEY"))
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()
	out, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(res.Status, string(out))
}

application/json

{
  "slug": "rc-snubber",
  "values": {
    "snubberResistance": 47.74648292756859,
    "snubberCapacitance": 133.33333333333334,
    "resistorPower": 0.1536,
    "parasiticCapacitance": 33.333333333333336,
    "parasiticInductance": 75.9908877317533,
    "characteristicImpedance": 47.74648292756859,
    "timeConstant": 6.366197723675813
  },
  "warnings": [],
  "errors": [],
  "provenance": {
    "method": "calculator:rc-snubber",
    "version": "api@3f2c1a9b04de",
    "formulaRef": "Todd, Snubber Circuits: Theory, Design and Application, Unitrode (1993), TI SLUP100, pp. 2-4 and 2-5",
    "assumptions": [
      {
        "code": "single-lc-loop",
        "text": "The ringing is one parasitic inductance and capacitance, and the inductance does not change when the test capacitor is added."
      },
      {
        "code": "damping-at-z0",
        "text": "The snubber resistor equals the loop's characteristic impedance, which damps it near Q = 1 when the snubber capacitor is several times the parasitic one."
      },
      {
        "code": "full-charge-each-transition",
        "text": "The snubber capacitor charges to the switched voltage and discharges fully once each per cycle, so the resistor dissipates C_s·V²·f_sw whatever its value; ringing overshoot adds to this."
      }
    ],
    "validRange": {
      "status": "inside",
      "bounds": {
        "ringFrequency": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "MHz"
        },
        "addedCapacitance": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "pF"
        },
        "ringFrequencyAdded": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "MHz"
        },
        "capacitorMultiple": {
          "min": 0.1,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "×"
        },
        "switchVoltage": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "V"
        },
        "switchingFrequency": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "kHz"
        },
        "minOnTime": {
          "min": 0.001,
          "max": null,
          "unit": "ns"
        },
        "eSeries": {
          "min": 0,
          "max": 96,
          "unit": ""
        }
      },
      "outside": [],
      "model": null
    },
    "computedAt": "2026-09-24T14:05:11.003Z",
    "inputs": {
      "ringFrequency": 100,
      "addedCapacitance": 100,
      "ringFrequencyAdded": 50,
      "capacitorMultiple": 4,
      "switchVoltage": 48,
      "switchingFrequency": 500,
      "minOnTime": 100,
      "eSeries": 0
    },
    "seed": null,
    "elapsedSeconds": 0.003
  }
}

{
  "detail": [
    {
      "type": "float_parsing",
      "loc": [
        "body",
        "inputs",
        "ringFrequency"
      ],
      "msg": "Input should be a valid number, unable to parse string as a number",
      "input": "abc"
    }
  ]
}

An input sent as text. Nothing was counted.

{
  "detail": "More than 120 requests in 60 seconds from this address.",
  "errorKind": "rate_limited",
  "limit": 120,
  "windowSeconds": 60,
  "upgradeUrl": "https://rftools.io/pricing/"
}

Too many requests in a minute, with Retry-After.

Same inputs on the calculator pageRC Snubber Calculator — Damp Switch-Node Ringing from Two Measurements, at these values