Kirk Wallace wrote: > >From parts, sub-assemblies, to complete turn-key, when do the regulatory > controls kick in? Being a tree hugger, I'm all for making sure a product > is fit and safe for the environment, neighbors, customers, etcetera, but > it sure is easier to do this in-house. > There is some grey area, as machine tools are nominally for factory use, which is in a different EMI class from home or office. Parts, boards, sub-assemblies are not required to be tested in the US, unless they fit in standard enclosures like desktop PCs. Otherwise, the rule is any complete unit that is powered from the mains and uses digital circuitry with a clock rate over 9 KHz must be tested. There are some exceptions for ultra-low power devices like digital wrist watches and similar devices which by design probably have real low radiation potential. Testing of boards and similar subassemblies intended to go into another housing is pointless, as the housing will make a HUGE difference. But, they do require testing of any board that plugs into a PC and has an external connector, as that connector can release interfering signals. So, the way I interpret the rules, all the boards I make are exempt from testing. But, if I made anything that had a complete housing, so a user would just plug in motors and connect to a computer, that WOULD require testing. I did this for a standard product I made 20 years ago that hooked an editing VCR to a PC, and it cost me $3K, I think. The rules have gotten more complex, so I understand such a test would be $10K now, for the industrial-level of test. If you want to do the home-level of test, it is more complicated and more expensive.
In Europe, you can do these tests in-house, in the US it is forbidden. You can do your own "pre qualification" tests to try to be sure your product will pass first time, but you are required to have a testing lab that is registered with the FCC (or international test house that can perform the tests to the current FCC rules) do the test and write the test documents. Jon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oracle to DB2 Conversion Guide: Learn learn about native support for PL/SQL, new data types, scalar functions, improved concurrency, built-in packages, OCI, SQL*Plus, data movement tools, best practices and more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/oracle-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
