Rick, Are you talking strictly about power cordage or internal hookup wire?
We had a CSA inspector reject one of our products because the internal PE Conductor (hookup wire) was a smaller gauge (18awg) than what was on the power cord (16awg). He said in Canada, the PE Conductor inside our product had to be the same gauge or larger than the PE conductor in the power cord regardless of the protection device or the current rating of the wire. In our case, we were using a 16 awg detachable power cord with an IEC 60320 connector. Inside our instrument, from the IEC connector to our chassis ground we used an 18 awg green/yellow hookup wire which can handle way more fault current than the 16 awg power cord. So as a general rule, we always use 14 awg hookup wire on IEC connectors just to be on the safe size; As such power cords can come in 18, 16, and 14 awg sizes. Our power cords for North America always have UL and CSA, but no CE or "harmonized" (at least it is not required to have this). When products are shipped to Europe I understood that UL/CSA cordage was acceptable (you still have to change the plug) as long as the conductor size met the requirements. That is why we don't use 18 awg power cords anymore. I really don't know the details because this is handled by our installers during the customer installation. Hope this was helpful. The Other Brian From: Rick Busche [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2015 10:08 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PSES] Wire Questions We manufacture a product that is intended for both the US and Canadian markets in addition to the European community. Our wiring is currently UL/CSA and "harmonized". Looking at the various wire vendors there are UL/CSA & CE certifications and certifications that are UL/CSA, CE and Harmonized. Is it acceptable to have wiring with just UL/CSA and CE? Also, I remember years ago a document or standard that stated that a grounding wire could be smaller than the load wires. The argument was that it doesn't have to support the load but just fault the input current. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Thanks Rick - ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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]<mailto:[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://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe)<http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html> List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> David Heald <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> ________________________________ LECO Corporation Notice: This communication may contain confidential information intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you received this by mistake, please destroy it and notify us of the error. Thank you. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) 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]>
