Folks, I recall that a few years ago The Netherlands reported (to the LVD Working Party) problems with at least overheating in mobile 'phones: I don't recall if there were problems with fires as well. The problem was found to stem from replacement batteries, not those from the original manufacturer. However, at least in some cases, the problem battery was a counterfeit copy and therefore had the appearance of a manufacturer’s original part to the untrained eye. I seem to recall a suggestion that the manufacturer’s original battery packs had internal current limiting components whereas the problem batteriy packs didn’t, though I cannot say whether this was the case or not. As a result of discussions in the EU body responsible for overseeing the R&TTED (TCAM), the Commission issued a Mandate to CEN/CENELEC and ETSI to report on the matter and update standards as appropriate. I do not know the progress or outcome of that review. Of course, since then we have had problems with laptop batteries having internal shorts and catching on fire. No amount of external protection circuitry would protect the user if this were the failure mechanism. Since we do not know the ‘phone type, the battery type, and whether it was OEM or counterfeited - let alone the failure mechanism - all our discussions are but interesting conjecture. Still, it is yet another example of the need to consider Murphy’s law when designing for safety! Regards, Richard Hughes
From: j...@jmwa.demon.co.uk To: emc-p...@ieee.org Sent: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 9.38AM Subject: Re: Cell Phone Catches Fire, Burns Man Over Half His Body In message <201048ea81ba0745aca78e4cc8839001769...@desmdswms201.des.grplnk.net <mailto:201048EA81BA0745ACA78E4CC8839001769210%40desmdswms201.des.grplnk.net> >, dated Wed, 17 Jan 2007, "Haynes, Tim (SELEX) (UK Capability Green)" <tim.hay...@selex-sas.com <mailto:tim.haynes%40selex-sas.com> > writes >What protection is there in a phone design if the case when an >electronic >component fails with a short? In Europe, the LVD doesn't apply, because of the low supply voltage, but the RTTE Directive does, and that doesn't have a lower bound on voltage. So I suppose EN 60950 applies for electrical safety. -- OOO - Own Opinions Only. Try www.jmwa.demon.co.uk <http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk/> and www.isce.org.uk <http://www.isce.org.uk/> There are benefits from being irrational - just ask the square root of 2. John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to emc-p...@ieee.org <mailto:emc-pstc%40ieee.org> Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net <mailto:emcpstc%40ptcnh.net> Mike Cantwell mcantw...@ieee.org <mailto:mcantwell%40ieee.org> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org <mailto:j.bacher%40ieee.org> David Heald: emc-p...@daveheald.com <mailto:emc-pstc%40daveheald.com> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to emc-p...@ieee.org Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net Mike Cantwell mcantw...@ieee.org For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org David Heald: emc-p...@daveheald.com All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
