I am looking for some feedback on what should guide my minimum test configuration for a modular rack mount design for both emissions and Immunity testing. The design can have up to 10 instances of plug in modules. For immunity testing I believe I can test one set of each module type but for emissions it is not clear to me what complement of modules should be present when testing.
Details: The rack based product similar to the configuration of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) where the base has the power supply and central data gathering MCU that talks to plug in Analog power metering and Discrete 24VDC Inputs or Outputs plus an optional communication card. The system is limited to one 10 slot rack which can be populated with only one communication but the rest can be any combination of the metering (current/voltage) or Discrete I/O cards. I have done a lot of immunity and emission prescreening. >From an RF radiated Immunity point of view I do not see any functional difference if I have one of each module or the whole rack populated. >From an emissions point of view I also do not see any significant cumulative effect when fully populating the rack. But if I do fully populate the rack then the number of cable groups becomes difficult to manage. I would really like to reduce this down when traveling to a lab for formal emission testing. My gut is telling me to have one of each Digital card, the communications module and then a couple of the metering cards. This would cover all module types and be configured like a typical application all though not the maximum configuration possible. In the PLC market this issue I am talking about becomes even larger since these products have so many IO and can have multiple racks. Any reflections on how these modular beasts are reduced to manageable test configurations and how you justify it would be appreciated. Regards Chris Wells Eaton Corporation - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ 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]>
