Eaton A202K1BA NEMA Magnetically Latched Lighting Contactor

The A202K1BA is a two-pole contactor rated 30A, from Eaton's A202 NEMA lighting contactor series. Two poles means it switches two ungrounded conductors, so it suits single-phase 120/240V lighting branches or two legs of a larger circuit. If you need to switch three legs of a 3-phase lighting panel, a two-pole device won't cover it.

The coil is rated 120V at 60 Hz. Your control wiring, whether that's a time clock, photocell, or low-voltage relay through a 120V interposing circuit, has to deliver 120VAC to the coil terminals. A 24V or 277V control scheme needs a different catalog number.

Magnetically latched (mechanically held) means the A202K1BA takes a momentary pulse to close and a second momentary pulse to open, then holds its state with no continuous coil power. That eliminates coil hum and coil heat, and the lights stay in their last state if the control power drops. An electrically held contactor needs the coil energized the whole time the lights are on and drops out on any loss of control power. Pick latched for large lighting banks run off time clocks, momentary switches, or BAS pulses; pick electrically held when you want the load to shed automatically whenever control power is lost.

Not directly. Because it is magnetically latched, it expects momentary ON and momentary OFF signals, so the control device needs to be a momentary contact switch, a two-wire time clock with latch/unlatch outputs, or a controller that pulses the 120V coil circuit. A maintained single-pole toggle holding the coil energized is the wiring scheme for an electrically held contactor, not this one.

The A202K1BA's poles are rated 30A, so size your lighting circuit at or below that per pole and respect the derating your installation requires for ballast and tungsten-type loads. For a typical 20A lighting branch circuit the 30A rating gives headroom; for a bank of lights drawing more than 30A per leg you need a larger frame contactor.

Order Eaton part number A202K1BA. That's a single configuration, two-pole, 30A, 120V 60 Hz coil, magnetically latched, within the A202 series, so there are no finish or size choices to specify.

The stated voltage rating is 120V at 60 Hz, so specify a contactor rated for 277V control and switching if that's what your panel runs. Many institutional and commercial lighting panels are 277V, and matching the coil and pole ratings to the actual circuit is the step people most often get wrong on a contactor swap.