Most of our customers must comply with the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU prior to application of a CE marking to their products. This is because the EMC Directive is applicable to almost everything with active electronics. Unlike North American EMC compliance (FCC and ICES) which requires emissions compliance only, EU compliance to the EMC Directive requires emissions and immunity testing.
Proving this means testing to one or a pair of harmonized EMC EN standards. These harmonized standards indicate the required tests – which are usually contained in other standards we call, believe it or not, “test standards”. The most frequently used EMC test standards are below.
- EN 61000-4-2 – ESD Immunity
- EN 610004-3 – Radiated Immunity
- EN 61000-4-4 – EFT Immunity
- EN 61000-4-5 – Surge Immunity
- EN 61000-4-6 – Conducted Immunity
- EN 61000-4-8 – Magnetic Fields Immunity
- EN 61000-4-11 – Voltage Dips/Interrupts
- EN 55011 – Radiated and Conducted Emissions
- EN 61000-3-2 – Harmonic Current Emissions
- EN 61000-3-3 Flicker/Voltage Fluctuations Emissions
Now we come to the purpose of this article: power supplies and the problems that can be created if you select one that has not passed the same testing that you are submitting your product to now. We frequently see documentation for power supplies that does not prove compliance. Power supplies can cause emission issues which can be a source of EMC testing failures. And non-compliant power supplies cause these issues and other issues more than compliant power supplies.
The documentation for a power supply may look like the product is compliant but a little investigative work often shows that it is not. Anyone can place a CE marking on a product. Actually complying with the requirements is different. We suggest asking for the test report from the manufacturer or at least a certificate of test. If you are going to send your product to the EU then you should be asking for EU declarations of conformity for all major subassemblies and assemblies while your are spec’ing the build. A company that spends the time and effort to ensure valid CE marking is not going to hide the documentation that proves it. Just ask. Usually you will get it within an hour. If you do not get a requested EU declaration of conformity within 24 hours it is likley you will never get it. Because it does not exist.
We have seen many reports that were generated by a manufacturer internally. In the world of compliance these are not valid. Why? The testing lab must have laboratory accreditation to issue an actual TRF test report, the gear used to test the products must be continually calibrated, strict environmental parameters must be maintained, etc. The gear used for testing and the calibration dates for that equipment must be listed in the report. For some reports – information about the credentials of the testing engineer is required. The testing standard must also be listed in the report. Manufacturers are usually not internally-equipped to efficiently handle this.
Our sales department can discuss these issues with you. In fact, our salespeople look at these documents so frequently that we can often immediately tell you if a test report or declaration of conformity appears valid.
I hope this helps. Please contact us today with any questions or to discuss your project.