Hi Folks Safety compliance for an add-in card is not an impossibiity! You can follow EN 60950 and come up with a compliant product design which allows user access to internal SELV status parts. This is often the case with PC's. You may then design a card for installation within such a product which, together with the installation instructions, is deemed a compliant product. The same is true of certain games machines having SELV cartridge ports where a cover is removed allowing expansion memory etc. to be fitted.
PCs designed in this way often require no tools to remove the access cover, some have knurled nuts or twist locks. I even beleive there is a UL scheme (although I haven't checked for a few months) to cover PCs designed in this way and also a scheme to cover a UL Listed Accessory card for use in these. This scheme includes the documentation in the listing. There may still be some EMC issues to address but safety compliance is not impossible! Bill Ellingford -----Original Message----- From: geor...@lexmark.com [mailto:geor...@lexmark.com] Sent: 19 March 2002 14:26 To: Colgan, Chris Cc: 'Emc-Pstc' (E-mail) Subject: Re: product modifications by the end user Chris, Every set of existing rules has an "intent", to be achieved by following the "letter" of the rules. Personally, I always consider meeting the intent far superior to meeting the letter of rules. Example, the letter of the law says we must stop at stop signs before proceeding. The intent is to avoid "accidents". We all know that sometimes we must exceed the rules, i.e. defensive driving, because the situation demands it. We also know that if the stop sign is in the middle of a desert, and we can see 5 miles in all directions, one would be meeting the intent of the law if no other cars could be seen, an we did not stop at the sign. The intent of IEC 60950 and like standards is to avoid personal injury and property damage. End users are generally considered "operators" under the standard. As such, they are to be reasonably prevented from access to hazards in the equipment. This does not mean that the equipment must be in a welded steel box, but that tools are required to enter hazardous areas, and the operator manual does not direct the operator to access such areas. The General Principles of 60950 (page 19) clearly states under Electric Shock : "Prevent operator access to parts at hazardous voltage by fixed or locked covers, interlocks, etc." Page 17 indicates that "operators" are assumed to be oblivious to electrical hazards. When all else fails in such situations as yours, I get something in writing indicating that my team has explained the hazards and risks, and the the Product Manager (or other responsible party) understands and accepts these risks. This usually closes the issue. George "Colgan, Chris" <chris.colgan%tagmclaren....@interlock.lexmark.com> on 03/19/2002 07:36:09 AM Please respond to "Colgan, Chris" <chris.colgan%tagmclaren....@interlock.lexmark.com> To: "'Emc-Pstc' (E-mail)" <emc-pstc%majordomo.ieee....@interlock.lexmark.com> cc: (bcc: George Alspaugh/Lex/Lexmark) Subject: product modifications by the end user Hello good people Just say someone in your marketing department came up with the bright idea of selling upgrade kits to an unqualified, untrained end user that involved removing the top cover of a product. In the process not only would the victim be exposed to hazardous voltages (if the product was still connected to the mains) but he/she would also have to wire up mains connections. There would also be a possibility that critical insulation would be disturbed. Apart from telling them that they were mad and suggesting that someone could be killed or seriously injured, would there be any black and white legislation that you could use to help bin this idea? I can't find anything specific in EN60065 or the LVD. Thanks for any input Chris Colgan Compliance Engineer TAG McLaren Audio Ltd The Summit, Latham Road Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29 6ZU *Tel: +44 (0)1480 415 627 *Fax: +44 (0)1480 52159 * Mailto:chris.col...@tagmclaren.com * http://www.tagmclaren.com ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list" * ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
