Jim, Having run a test lab in a previous life, I'd have to say that the price mentioned is _way_ high since it doesn't include radiated immunity. What's a little unusual is your very high power demands. I suspect there are not more than a dozen labs in the US that can deal with 500 Amp DC inputs and 12kW outputs. There may be a premium there.
Respectfully, Brent DeWitt -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Warren Birmingham Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 8:03 PM To: Jim Eichner Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: Surge and EFT test equipment for AC, DC, and signal ports Jim, it is just my opinion, but well-designed equipment does not have much risk of failure for the majority of the tests. The one test that is worth some investment is an ESD test device. I believe that this is the most commonly-failed test and often the most difficult to correct without some insight. The remainder of the equipment you will need will cost about $60,000 and given that you may spend test money at a laboratory anyway is likely not worth it unless you are a very big manufacturer that can benefit from ISO 9000:2000 without doing the 3rd party testing. As a minimum, you are likely going to have to deal with calibration and service issues and the delays associated with them. A suite of testing runs about $6000 for immunity for ITE equipment to meet EN 55 024 without even talking about the Radiated Immunity requirements equipment and a chamber. You are going to likely have to do this subset of testing anyway if you want a credible report as evidence of self-declaration. The costs of emissions and immunity testing with reports is around $7000 and is a clean approach both financially and in timeline if you do some chamber tests first for emissions, say a 2-hour scan in a chamber. Emissions and immunity testing are somewhat coupled in that a device that is a low radiator is also likely to have good resistance to susceptibility, but not always. This is most often true of metal shielded enclosures and those with shielded I/O cables. If you want to give me a call I'll share what I know. Warren Birmingham Epsilon-Mu Consultants (510) 793-4806 email: [email protected] website: http://www.epsilon-mu.com On Monday, Sep 23, 2002, at 14:44 US/Pacific, Jim Eichner wrote: > >> We are starting to look into the costs and issues around gearing up >> for >> some immunity testing, with the intent of determining whether or not >> it is >> too hard or too expensive to gear up to do some of it "at home". We >> are >> not looking for final formal compliance results here, only for >> pre-compliance peace of mind. In particular, I need to consider the >> following: >> >> 1. EFT (EN61000-4-4) - AC input, output, and ground lines, DC input >> and >> output lines, signal/control lines >> 2. Surges (EN 61000-4-5) - AC input, output, and ground lines, DC >> input >> and output lines, signal/control lines >> 3. Surges (SAE J1113/11) on DC power leads >> 4. Fast transients (SAE J1113/12) on other than power leads >> >> The products which we hope to be able to test in-house are power >> conversion and control products, and have a wide range of input/output >> voltages and power: >> >> - AC inputs up to 120V, 60A, or 230Vac, 30A single-phase, 120/240V, >> 50A, >> split-phase, and 120/208V, 30A, 3-phase >> - AC outputs up to 120Vac, 60A, 230Vac, 30A, 120/240V, 50A split-phase >> - DC inputs up to 12V, 500A; 24V, 300A; 48V, 200A >> - DC outputs up to 12kW at 10 - 600Vdc (1200A - 20A) >> >> Questions: >> >> 1. Is there any single piece of equipment (with >> accessories/modules/etc.) >> available that can do both Surge and EFT tests on equipment, or are >> these >> tests just too different? >> >> 2. Surge - Is there any single piece of equipment (with >> accessories/modules/etc.) available that can do surges on all these >> types >> of ports: AC and DC and signal/control? Any info re mfr, cat. no., >> price, >> etc. would be appreciated. >> >> 3. EFT - Is there any single piece of equipment (with >> accessories/modules/etc.) available that can do EFT on all these >> types of >> ports: AC and DC and signal/control? Any info re mfr, cat. no., >> price, >> etc. would be appreciated. >> >> 4. Do these tests have to be run at full output (which may limit my >> ability to find 3rd party labs with suitable equipment, let alone >> gear up >> in-house) or can they be run with a light load on the equipment and >> then >> test full output after each test to confirm return to normal >> operation? >> >> Thanks in advance for your help, >> Jim Eichner, P.Eng. >> Regulatory Compliance Manager >> Xantrex Technology Inc. >> e-mail: [email protected] >> web: www.xantrex.com >> Any opinions expressed are those of my invisible friend, who really >> exists. Honest. 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