I agree. The only EMC issue I have experienced with small DC motors is brush noise, which can be attenuated with capacitors or a simple L-C filter circuit directly across them. Never had an EMC issue with steppers.
Jim Hulbert This message is from an EXTERNAL EMAIL system. Use caution and think before opening attachments, clicking links, or responding. Hi Amund, when I was working full time, the products I dealt with had various motors in them. Both steppers and DC, sometimes both. Most of the products were in a plastic enclosure. We never had a problem with the motors causing EMC failures. We did on the DC motors either put capacitors across them or a snubber across them, due to the broadband noise they generate. Jim Bacher, WB8VSU [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> JBRC Consulting LLC Product EMC & Regulatory Consultant https://www.trc.guru/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://trc.guru/__;!!GXa4NB5MBjHR!QFBRHqpEuleeqsYeK-nfzVJZrVG8NzrYNUCgGd8rkrjLj7N0-10rVMQ0WynPmNz43z5je7Q91Ok4Uc8dJKT2bA$> email:[email protected] IEEE Life Senior Member On May 20, 2026 4:00:32 AM [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> wrote: Hi We are currently evaluating motor options for a small winch application: * 12VDC geared motor with PWM control * or a stepper motor solution Motor power will likely be around 40W. The product will be EMC tested according to EN IEC 61326-1. I am primarily interested in practical experience related to radiated emissions between these two alternatives. My assumption is that conducted noise can generally be managed with filtering and ferrites. However, since the enclosure of the final product provides little or no shielding effect, I am more concerned about radiated emissions from the motor and driver system itself. Is it possible to make a general recommendation regarding which motor type to prefer from an EMC perspective, or does it mainly depend on the EMC design quality of the motor driver and overall implementation? BR Amund ________________________________ This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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