It has been recognised that high dV/dt (voltage rise against time) is undesirable. Furthermore, the magnitude of the dV/dt and peak voltage increases with cable length. Therefore, this can have a harmful effect on motors and may cause partial discharge in the isolation materials, leading to premature motor failure. Worse still, under certain conditions, the reflected wave can have a cumulative effect, thus amplifying the problem. The dV/dt filter may be considered in such cases.

To simply limit the dV/dt may not be sufficient, particularly if the installation has to conform to IEC 34-17 and VDE 0530 standards, which specify that a general purpose motor, used with an inverter, should withstand voltage peaks of 1000V and dV/dt up to 500 V/us, without any significant decrease in motor life. In most instances this can be achieved by installing a dV/dt attenuation choke at the output of the inverter. This has to be effective in the common mode.