Blog
Environmental Testing – Like HALT – Improves Product Reliability & Ruggedness
Environmental testing has nothing to do with an evaluation of the earth’s environment. Not the environmental testing we’re writing about here anyway. Also known as environmental simulation, environmental testing involves putting your electronic product through environmental extremes and then determining what hardware failures occur. This process is crucial for pinpointing design flaws for ensuring the... Read More
How to Request FCC Confidentiality for Proprietary Product Information
On October 16, 2014 the FCC published 726920 D01 Confidentiality Request Procedures, a new document that details the steps required to ensure proprietary information about your device will be held confidential. To be granted confidentiality, your application must include a reference to 0.457(d) and 0.459 of the FCC Rules, the reason why the information should... Read More
New EMC Directive 2014/30/EU Will Soon Replace 2004/108/EU
The European Union EMC Directive 2004/108/EU has been revised to the new Directive 2014/30/EU. After April 2016, the new directive will be required for all applicable electrical products being sold in the European Union. Requirements listed in Annex I of the directive remain the same. But 4 key changes have been made: The directive now... Read More
For New Technologies – Like 3D Printers – What Product Safety Standard Applies?
Product safety compliance for equipment that falls into an established product category is straightforward. But what about new technologies – how are these products evaluated? As a case example, let’s look at 3D printers. 3D printers aren’t new, but they are just now entering the mainstream, with many more manufacturers developing new small desktop versions... Read More
GR-3160-CORE is NEBS Lite for Data Center Equipment
GR-3160-CORE, NEBS Requirements for Telecommunications Data Center Equipment and Spaces, is sometimes described as ‘NEBS Lite.’ It includes important reliability and safety requirements, without the full set of hurdles found in the NEBS telecom standards, like GR-1089-CORE and GR-63-CORE. But what exactly are the differences for equipment evaluation? Following is a basic overview. The test... Read More
UL Safety Standards for Lighting Undergoing Revisions
The only constant? Change. Product safety standards are almost always in some state of being updated. Here is a summary of changes afoot for some of the most popular UL lighting safety standards: UL 1598 – Luminaires (Tri-national standard) The next 2-year revision cycle has started. CSA (the Publication Coordinator) sent proposals to the Technical... Read More
Top 20 Non-Compliance Findings for Panel & Motor-Operated Equipment
Here at MET Labs, we’ve been product safety testing electrical/electronic equipment in the field for over 55 years. Naturally, we see the same failures over and over again. We hope this list of Top 20 Field Failures for Panel & Motor-Operated Equipment will help inspectors identify and contractors fix the most commonly observed non-compliances. 1.... Read More
UL 1995 4th Edition Requires Retesting of HVAC/R Equipment
The requirements for HVAC/R equipment safety have changed. UL 1995/CSA 22.2 No. 236 has been updated with the release of the 4th edition. This new edition came into effect October 14, 2014. If your products are currently certified to the 3rd edition, you must have your file updated to reflect 4th edition changes. UL1995 covers... Read More
Electric Meter Testing Requirements Updated in ANSI C12.1-2014
Three weeks ago, MET Labs joined other C12 Accredited Standards Committee members in St. Louis, MO at the EEI Transmission, Distribution & Metering Conference to discuss revisions to ANSI C12.1, which provides the basic requirements for all kilowatthour metering devices, both electronic and electromechanical. This post highlights changes from the ANSI C12.1-2008 revision to the... Read More
AHJs Use NFPA 790 & 791 to Qualify Labs for Electrical Equipment Field Evaluations
Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) in the United States have typically used the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70, as the basis for approving electrical equipment installations in the United Sates. Much of the Code relies on having products manufactured and certified by a recognized testing laboratory to consensus-based U.S. product safety standards. In Canada, the AHJs... Read More
