Don,
We use an IBM crossed-vane Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) simulator to test 110V
and 110/220V products, and an IEC 61000-4-2 ESD simulator to test 220V and
110/220V products. The IEC 61000-4-2 tester works very well finding direct-
discharge ESD problems. For indirect-discharge ESD, such as furniture ESD, the
crossed-vane simulator seems to be much harsher than the IEC 61000-4-2
Horizontal Coupling Plane (HCP) and Vertical Coupling Plane (VCP) tests. Part
of this is statistical:
* Zapping the product at up to 60Hz versus once every 2-5 seconds.
* Zapping the product with 10's of 1000's of zaps versus a few hundred zaps in
a test session.
The crossed-vane ESD simulator really excels at finding cabling problems and
shielding problems that make the product susceptible to magnetic-field pickup.
For a readily-available description of the IBM Tabletop ESD Test, see
Calcavecchio, Ralph J., and Pratt, Daniel J.,
"A Standard Test to Determine the Susceptibility of a Machine to Electrostatic
Discharge," 1986 IEEE International
Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility Symposium Record, San Diego, CA,
Sept. 16-18, 1986, pp. 475-482.
John Barnes Advisory Engineer
Lexmark International
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