There is a difference between hazard levels and what I would call nuisance levels. With nuisance levels, the noise might be an irritant but not necessarily hazardous. This is especially true of noise that has a harmonic content or several noise sources that have nearly the same frequency but beat together. The exception to this might be where the level of noise could mask a hazard or break concentration that is critical to the task at hand.
I doubt there is much regulation available for low level noise which is a irritant. I just did a quick check for the keywords "noise" and "acoustic" in IEC 61558-1. There were no hits. IEC 61010-1 has a section 12.5 Sonic and ultrasonic pressure. But this is about hazard levels. Also in IEC 60950-1 (Ed. 1) there is mention of this in the section principles of Safety, but no real guidance. Abatement for high levels of transformer noise especially in environments like audio / video recording studios can be very challenging. Limits are generally set by market forces, not safety regulation. One of the best companies I have seen with is Brüel & Kjær (http://www.bksv.com/; http://www.bkhome.com/). You can also subscribe to Sound and Vibration (http://www.sandv.com/) and they have a number of resources that may interest you. Regards, -doug Douglas E. Powell Engineering Manager Corporate Product Compliance Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Carpentier Kristiaan Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 2:51 AM To: EMC-PSTC Subject: Standards for accoustic noise Hi group, Products with transformers sometimes produce noise due to fact that parts of the transformer are not fixed well or due to piezo-electric effect. The acoustic level is rather low but can be annoying. Can anyone point me to standards that describe this kind of acoustic measurements and limits? Vriendelijke groeten, meilleures salutations, mit freundlichen Gruessen, best regards, Kristiaan Carpentier Regulatory & Approvals Thomson Telecom Belgium Prins Boudewijnlaan 47 B-2650 Edegem Tel.: +32 3 443 6407 Fax: +32 3 443 6632 E-mail: [email protected] - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc This message, including any attachments, may contain information that is confidential and proprietary information of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. The dissemination, distribution, use or copying of this message or any of its attachments is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. - This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to [email protected] Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas [email protected] Mike Cantwell [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: [email protected] David Heald: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
