The LX9FG280 is a specific replacement coil for TeSys F contactors, wound for 280 V AC control at 40 to 400 Hz. It's a low-consumption design, meaning the hold-in power stays between 8.9 and 10.9 VA once the contactor pulls in — that's about a third of the inrush draw, so the control transformer only has to handle the full 950 to 1180 VA for the 35 ms closing transient. After that, the coil settles into its holding state, drawing roughly 8 to 9.8 W of heat dissipation that the enclosure has to shed. The operating voltage window is wide: it picks up at 85% of nominal (238 V AC) and drops out between 35% and 55% (98 to 154 V AC), both measured at 131 °F (55 °C). That dropout margin is worth noting — if your control supply sags under a heavy motor start, the coil stays sealed well below where a tighter-dropout coil might chatter. Mechanical life is rated at 10 million cycles, and the maximum operating rate at 55 °C is 2400 cycles per hour — one cycle every 1.5 seconds. That's fast enough for most repetitive pick-and-place or conveyor indexing, but if you're cycling faster than that, you'll need to derate or look at the thermal curve.
What to watch when installing
The coil ships without a built-in suppressor module. That's common on TeSys F coils — the suppressor is ordered separately (typically an RLA or RLV module) and clips onto the coil terminals. If your control circuit uses a PLC output or a solid-state relay to fire the contactor, you'll want that suppressor fitted to limit the back-EMF spike when the coil de-energizes. The opening time is 130 ms, which is deliberate — it lets the arc in the main contacts extinguish before the coil fully drops out. The average coil resistance is 66.47 ohms inrush and 2523 ohms holding at 20 °C. That's a roughly 38:1 ratio between pull-in and hold current, which is typical for an AC-operated economizer design. If you're measuring a cold coil with an ohmmeter, expect the lower inrush value — the resistance jumps as the coil heats to operating temperature.
Where this coil belongs in the TeSys lineup
The LX9FG280 is part of the TeSys F range, which covers contactors from about 115 A to 800 A in AC-3 duty. The 'F' frame is the larger industrial form factor — physically bigger than the TeSys D (9 to 65 A) or TeSys K (up to 12 A) ranges. This specific 280 V AC coil is a low-consumption variant, so it draws less hold-in power than the standard-consumption LX9FG coils at the same voltage. If you're replacing a standard-consumption coil in a panel with a tight transformer budget, the low-consumption version can free up VA for other loads.
Approvals and documentation
As a Telemecanique / Schneider Electric branded part, the LX9FG280 carries the usual CE marking for the European market and is designed to meet IEC/EN 60947 standards for control circuit devices. RoHS and REACH compliance documentation is available through the standard Schneider documentation portal using the product range and order code. The category listing is 22341 — contactor, D, K, & F accessories — which is the internal classification for replacement coils and auxiliary blocks across those three TeSys frame sizes.