Chris, Don, Testing to standards is usually termed Type Testing, which is testing for design faults. The purpose of production testing is to identify production faults, (e.g. incorrect or bad connections, faulty components, etc., etc.) and this must be taken into account when deciding which production tests are to be performed for CE. Unlike license marks (UL, TUV...), where the 'owner' of the mark specifies the production tests, with CE you generally have to do what makes engineering sense. You must keep records, and be in a position to justify your decisions to the European authorities, if they ask (which they may do if there is a serious incident).
Of course 'informative' annexes in EN standards may be used as guidance. I don't know if there are harmonised EN standards with 'normative' annexes for production testing. If there are, then I assume they would be obligatory. Nevertheless, If you have a good engineering reason why the production test in the standard is not as good as a different test you wish to perform, and you document the reasoning, and feel that you have no problem justifying it, then you should perform your preferred test. Best Wishes, Jon Griver http://www.i-spec.com The engineer's online guide to IEC 60950 > > Hi Don, > > I'm curious.... > > Which safety standard to you use for CE marking your product? > > 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. I'm not sure if this is also > true for other Euro safety standards. > > I wonder if other people have noticed this difference between > "informative" and "normative" annexes. How is this interpreted? > > Chris Maxwell > Design Engineer - > NetTest Optical Division > email [email protected] > phone +1 315 266 5128 > fax +1 315 797 8024 > NetTest > 6 Rhoads Drive, > Utica, NY 13502 USA > web www.nettest.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [SMTP:[email protected]] > > Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 2:13 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Manufacturing Hipot Testing > > > > > > > > > > Dear Group: > > > > A Hipot standard which we must run for CE compliance requires that > > circuit-to-circuit and circuit-to-ground testing be performed on a > > routine > > basis. The test is applied for 10s. The products I deal with have > > many > > circuits (Inputs, outputs, etc.) so test time is excessive . To speed > > test time > > the standard allows for grouping of similar circuits and decreasing > > the test > > time to 1s (with increased voltage). There is a problem with the > > grouping > > method because faults between circuits in the group are masked. > > > > A better way of performing dielectric strength testing would be to > > automate a > > process where each individual circuit is hipot tested to ground for 1 > > second. > > The problem is that this method doesn't match what the CE standard > > requires. > > > > Some of you have probably been in similar circumstances. What did you > > do? What > > do you suggest? Do I meet the standard no matter the cost? What is > > the risk of > > having my CE Mark pulled and perhaps my company sued if I do not meet > > the entire > > standard? > > > > Regards, > > Don MacArthur > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety > > Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. > > > > Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ > > > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to: > > [email protected] > > with the single line: > > unsubscribe emc-pstc > > > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > > Michael Garretson: [email protected] > > Dave Heald [email protected] > > > > For policy questions, send mail to: > > Richard Nute: [email protected] > > Jim Bacher: [email protected] > > > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > > http://www.rcic.com/ click on "Virtual Conference Hall," > > > > ------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety > Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. > > Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to: > [email protected] > with the single line: > unsubscribe emc-pstc > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Michael Garretson: [email protected] > Dave Heald [email protected] > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Richard Nute: [email protected] > Jim Bacher: [email protected] > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > http://www.rcic.com/ click on "Virtual Conference Hall," > > ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Michael Garretson: [email protected] Dave Heald [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.rcic.com/ click on "Virtual Conference Hall,"
