In message <E1BA0362B28ED211A1E80008C71EA3060181920E@EXC_EAS01> "Gordon,Ian" writes: > All > Does anybody know what the planned European Voltage Harmonisation levels are > (I think there is a change in tolerance) and when they will be introduced? > Thanks > Ian Gordon
Ian, I reproduce below the section on this from the old s.e.e.c FAQ. Recently it has been announced that the final step due 1.1.2003 has been delayed, I'm not sure till when, possibly permanently. Additionally, from a safety point of view, the (UK) IEE made a recommendation in 1996 that "All equipment designed for pan European distribution and for use after 2003 must be tested for safety over the range 230V +10% to -14% even though it may not be necessary for the equipment to work satisfactorily over this range." The "low end" of -14% was to allow for building voltage drops up to 4% in addition to the supply variations. Hope this helps. Bill -- Bill Lyons - [email protected] / [email protected] 2.2.1 European Voltage Harmonisation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nominal European voltage is now 230V 50 Hz (formerly 240V in UK, 220V in the rest of Europe) but this does not mean there has been a real change in the supply. Instead, the new "harmonised voltage limits" in Europe are now: 230V -10% +6% (i.e. 207.0 - 243.8V) in most of Europe (the former 220V nominal countries), and 230V -6% +10% (i.e. 216.2 - 253.0V) in UK (former 240V nominal). This is really a fudge and means there is no real change of supply voltage, only a change in the "label", with no incentive for electricity supply companies to actually change the supply voltage. To cope with both sets of limits an equipment will therefore need to cover 230V +/-10% i.e. 207-253V. This will actually become the official limit for the whole of the EU in 2003. 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: Ron Pickard: [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://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
