P-Series Valves, what to do with them?

[ppppenguin]

For a capacitative dropper on 235V mains and a 165V 300mA chain the computed value is just shy of 6uF.

790R (resistive) and 235V gives 297.5mA.

Running through the sums again, with a 6uF cap, gives a surge current of 437mA into 90R load and a running current of 307mA.

A resistive dropper would need to be 240R. Surge current is 712mA into 90R load, running current 297mA.

So the cap certainly gives a much lower surge current. Why? X=530R for a 6uF cap at 50Hz. So it's closer to a current source than a 240R resistor. Certainly the smaller the load resistance the closer the approximation to a current source. I suspect it would be easier to visualise if I drew the phasor diagrams.

In the limit, with a short circuit load, the cap will take 443mA, the 240R dropper will pass 980mA.