LVD changes lead to increased EMC testing

The EU Commission has mandated Cenelec to take account of EMC-style phenomena during safety assessments.

Historically the EMC and Low Voltage directives are applied in distinctly separate ways.

However, with the increase in the use of electronic controls and the incorporation of standby modes into more and more commonly used appliances, the EU Commission has mandated Cenelec to alter this situation and take account of EMC-style phenomena during safety assessments.

The first of this new generation of standards is the current version of EN60335-1:2002/A2:2006 (equipment for domestic use, farms, shops etc) which covers abnormal situations that can be expected in practice and takes into account the way in which electromagnetic phenomena can affect the safe operation of appliances.

This standard fully replaces its predecessor for LVD compliance in July 2008.

EMC-style tests are required where safety is dependent on the correct functioning of an electronic circuit or where the equipment has an electronic standby function.

The EMC-style tests (selected from a list of EN61000 series standards) are applied during EN60335-1 abnormal condition testing (clause 19) after application of each single fault and in addition to that fault.

"This is an onerous change", says Steve Hayes, EMC specialist at TRL, "because most equipment is only designed for EMC immunity when operating normally".

"However, following the high-profile case of a toaster causing a house fire in Norway, it has clearly become necessary to do something".

"The addition of these EMC-style tests may result in a reversal in the trend towards totally electronic protective and control systems, with traditional methods of safety protection - switches, fuses and thermal devices - being used in preference as a means of avoiding these tests".

Back to top