Interesting points. This provoked me to look again into a standard that
I've examined but never used, BS EN 50178:1998, Electronic equipment for
use in power installations. It covers safety, EMC, and environmental
conditions. It is 99 pages long, it's informative Annex A starts on page
72, so more that 25% of the standard is informative. However, we do use EN
61616-1 almost exclusively and have routinely specified hipot testing, and
it does't hurt that we also have the explicit encouragement of a 3rd party
approval.
Back to topic.
Our manufacturing people view the hipot test as useful for detecting
defects, possibly because the hipot tester and control software are linked
into a database which makes operating and tracking the results of this test
automatic. I wonder if it wasn't for the software/database linkage that
the hipot test might not enjoy as much acceptance by manufacturing. If the
hipot test is made easy to set and operate, then it might be considered
useful rather than some arcane obligation.
Eric Lifsey
National Instruments
John Woodgate
<[email protected]> To:
[email protected]
Sent by: cc:
owner-emc-pstc@majordom Subject: Re:
Manufacturing Hipot Testing
o.ieee.org
08/20/2001 08:09 AM
Please respond to John
Woodgate
I read in !emc-pstc that Chris Maxwell <[email protected]> wrote
(in <[email protected]>)
about 'Manufacturing Hipot Testing', on Mon, 20 Aug 2001:
>I believe that it matters. For instance, in EN 61010-1 (Safety of Test
>& Measurement Equipment) production line testing is in one of the
>"informative" annexes. It isn't in one of the "normative" annexes.
>This leads me to believe that, if strictly interpreted, production line
>hipot ... isn't required for EN 61010-1.
You are correct, if indeed the Annex is Informative. But that is
exceedingly surprising.
> I'm not sure if this is also
>true for other Euro safety standards.
No, it is not, for any that I know about anyway.
>
>I wonder if other people have noticed this difference between
>"informative" and "normative" annexes. How is this interpreted?
Normative Annexes contain provisions that are equally valid as those of
the main text. Informative Annexes do not, or should not, contain
provisions, simply recommendations, clarifications or data. In any case,
they are *purely* informative.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk
Eat mink and be dreary!
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