There are two concerns about the (mis)use of the connector you discussed. I assume you are talking about the IEC 320 C13 (female, 10A, 70C) and C14 (male), although it probably doesn't matter which IEC 320 connectors you are talking about. Note that there are some 22 different connectors currently and probably more to come. The very first sentence of the IEC 320 standard states that these are for ac only.
The first concern is the consequence of plugging a cord into your product which carries (up to) 250 Vac into your 24 volt input. You must assure that should this happen, the product will remain safe (not necessarily still functioning, but safe). The second concern is the consequence of plugging your 24 volt source into a product expecting 120 or 240 Vac. This is a tough one since you don't know the product. It could be a transformer load, in which case you would be likely to overheat and burn out the winding. If you can figure out the consequences of this for all products you are a much better engineer than I. The consequence is that your design is pretty likely to be unsafe under conditions of forseeable misuse, and is in violation of standards in those countries which have adopted the use of IEC standards. I recommend you try something else. Keep in mind it may be reasonable to come up with a hybrid connector useful for combined ac/dc use. For example it is reasonable to have a product which can operate on 40-250 V ac/dc. Such a device would work on 48 Vdc central office supplies as well as typical ac supplies. A modified IEC 320 C13 connector with projections to prevent its use in a normal C14 connector could carry dc into such a product and still meet the above two concerns, while allowing the product to accept normal ac cordsets as well. It also solves the problem of having to guard live unused connections intended for the alternate supply source. "Stewart, Judd" wrote: > Good afternoon everyone, > > Problem- > > A universal battery charger that I am reviewing is powered by AC 110-220 or > 24VDC. > > The 24 VDC enters the device via a male IEC 320 connector....OUCH!. > > The AC enters via a non-detachable recognized power cord with NEMA- 5-15 > molded male connector. > > Commons sense would tell you not to use this connector for the DC but they > did...The likely hood that someone would plug AC into it is extremely high. > I am looking for a regulation/standard to reference that would prevent this > sort of application... > > any Ideas? > > Thanks in advance, > > Judd Stewart > 619.623.6639 > > --------- > This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. > To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] > with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the > quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], > [email protected], [email protected], or > [email protected] (the list administrators). --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] (the list administrators).
