Clause 5.4.9 of my copy of UL 1950 states that

"During the tests of 5.4.4 c), 5.4.5, 5.4.6, 5.4.7 and 5.4.8:

- if a fire occurs it shall not propagate beyond the equipment;

- the equipment shall not emit molten metal;

- if a wire or a printed wiring board trace in the primary circuit
opens, the gap is to be electrically shorted and the test continued
until ultimate results occur.  This applies to each occurrence;

- if a trace in a secondary circuit is designed to intentionally
open in a repeatable manner, the test is to be conducted three
times to determine if the circuit does open repeatedly."

If the standard allows a trace to open during component fault tests,
the test engineer should not consider it an unacceptable result.

Patty Elliot
Qualcomm, Inc.
San Diego, CA  USA
[email protected]



At 11:12 PM 1/7/99 +0200, Peter Merguerian wrote:
>To Rich, Doug and All Members,
>
>I just got clarification from UL that opening of a trace during 
>Overvoltage Tests is OK as long as unit passes either the Leakage 
>and Dielectric Tests. However, opening of a trace during 
>component abnormals would be considered an unacceptable result.
>
>Thank you everyone for all the input.
>
>
>Date sent:             Tue, 5 Jan 1999 16:08:51 -0800 (PST)
>From:                  Rich Nute <[email protected]>
>To:                    [email protected]
>Subject:               Re: UL1950 Overvoltage Tests
>Copies to:             [email protected] (Product Safety Technical 
>Committee)
>Send reply to:         Rich Nute <[email protected]>
>
>> 
>> 
>> Hi Doug:
>> 
>> 
>> >   Isn't this a variation of using the traces as a fusing element 
>> >   instead of using a real fuse?  
>> 
>> Not necessarily.
>> 
>> In Peter's situation, the test was that of the integrity
>> of the insulation between the TNV circuit and the other
>> circuits.
>> 
>> So, if the "fused" trace did not bridge the insulation,
>> then there should be no consideration that the trace was
>> being used as a fuse.  It is simply a failure, and a 
>> particular kind of failure -- open-circuit.
>> 
>> Many, many fault-condition (abnormal) tests end up with an 
>> open circuit.  We don't treat all component open-circuits 
>> as fuses.  So, why should we treat an open trace as a fuse?
>> 
>> It is unlikely that fusing of a trace will bridge a safety 
>> insulation.  On the other hand, fusing of a transformer 
>> winding wire may be associated with enough heat to damage 
>> the solid safety insulation within the transformer!
>> 
>> On the other hand, if the fusing of the trace should 
>> prevent an overheating situation (fire?), then the trace
>> probably should be evaluated for its fusing action.
>> 
>> So, one needs to understand the nature of the test in
>> order to evaluate the results of the test to determine 
>> whether the opening of a trace is a fusing action as
>> opposed to simply the end of a fault-condition test.
>> 
>> 
>> Best wishes for the New Year,
>> Rich
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>  Richard Nute                      Product Safety Engineer
>>  Hewlett-Packard Company           Product Regulations Group 
>>  AiO Division                      Tel   :   +1 619 655 3329 
>>  16399 West Bernardo Drive         FAX   :   +1 619 655 4979 
>>  San Diego, California 92127       e-mail:  [email protected] 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>
>
>PETER S. MERGUERIAN
>MANAGING DIRECTOR
>PRODUCT TESTING DIVISION
>I.T.L. (PRODUCT TESTING) LTD.
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>
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