Hi Pete:
It seems to me that there are several kinds of conductive parts that we need to be concerned about from a safety perspective: 1. Energized parts at hazardous voltage. 2. Energized parts at non-hazardous voltage. 3. Energized parts at non-hazardous current. 4. Grounded/earthed parts. 5. Non-grounded/earthed parts susceptible of becoming energized at a hazardous voltage in the event of a fault. 6. Non-grounded/earthed parts not susceptible of becoming energized at hazardous voltage in the event of a fault. For the purpose of these definitions, grounded/earthed is taken as meaning bonded to the earth. Non-grounded/earthed is taken as meaning not bonded to the earth, but may be incidentally connected to earth (i.e., not connected to earth in a manner that assures a current- carrying capability). Each of the preceding parts can be either accessible or inaccessible. (The safety standards prohibit some of these parts from being accessible.) According to your definitions: > Exposed conductive part: conductive part of equipment, which can be > touched and which is not normally live, but which can become live when > basic insulation fails. Exposed conductive part = My definition 5, and accessible. > Extraneous/non-electrical conductive part: conductive part not > forming part of the electrical installation and liable to introduce an > electric potential, generally the electric potential of a local earth. Extraneous/non-electrical conductive part = My definition 6. Your question: Which is a better term for the definition, extraneous or non-electrical? In the sense of this discussion, a conductive part is implied to be an electrically-conductive part. So, a non-electrical electrically-conductive part could be taken as an oxymoron. Its certainly not clear as to what is meant. Let's review Webster's Collegiate Tenth: Extraneous: 1) existing on or coming from the outside; 2a) not forming an essential or vital part; 2b) having no relevance; 3) being a number obtained in solving an equation that is not a solution to the equation. So, it seems the word "extraneous" is consistent with the definition of the part. Best regards, Rich --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators).