Battery powered IT equipment may fall under the scope of IEC60950 but surely there is no European legislation requiring IEC60950 to be applied to such equipment. If the supply is below 75Vdc it is outside the scope of the LVD and the General Product Safety Directive does not mention harmonised standards.
Personally I would test a battery powered product as far as I could to a Harmonised Standard ie IEC60950, IEC60065 etc as I believe products should be as safe as we can make them. Just my tuppence ha'penny worth Chris Colgan EMC & Safety TAG McLaren Audio Ltd mailto:[email protected] > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [SMTP:[email protected]] > Sent: 13 January 2000 16:36 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: LVD voltage range. > > > More words (opinions) on this issue...... > > The "scope" of IEC 60950 does not establish a lower voltage limit. > Section 1.1.1 states "This standard is applicable to mains-powered > or battery-powered information technology equipment ....with a rated > voltage not exceeding 600V." > > Section 1.2.4.3 simply defines Class III equipment as that which > protects against electric shock by SELV, i.e. non-hazardous voltages. > It does not exclude such equipment, due to other possible hazards. > > Section 1.2.8.3 defines hazardous voltages as those above 42.4V peak > or 60Vdc. Section 1.2.8.4 indirectly defines SELV as circuits meeting > these requirements. > > It is my opinion that "battery-powered" equipment, albeit low voltage, > is included in the scope due to the hazards unique to such equipment. > The energy stored within the batteries can (and has) resulted in fires > within laptop PCs due to an accidental short. The possibility of a > burn hazard has already been mentioned. > > If a Class III ITE device contains no batteries, and is powered by a > "limited power source (section 2.11) it requires no fire enclosure > (section 4.4.5.2). As such, the only hazards remaining to be > avoided are sharp edges etc. This is why it is not mandatory (under > the scope), nor practical, to "certify" such devices to IEC 60950. > > Having said this, there may be other reasons to "certify, e.g. value > of agency follow-up services distant (e.g. Far East) factories, > customer expectations, and so on. > > George Alspaugh > Lexmark International Inc. > > > > > --------- > 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). > ===================================================== Authorised on 01/14/00 at 09:39:21; code 37f48bf3E86C9804. The contents of this E-mail are confidential and for the exclusive use of the intended recipient. If you receive this E-mail in error, please delete it from your system immediately and notify us either by E-mail, telephone or fax. You should not copy, forward or otherwise disclose the content of the E-mail. TAG McLaren Audio Ltd, The Summit, 11 Latham Road Huntingdon, Cambs, PE18 6ZU Telephone : 01480 415600 (+44 1480 415600) Facsimile : 01480 52159 (+44 1480 52159) --------- 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).
