Before they can be imported into the European Community (EC), all electrical and electronic products must meet specific electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements. The job of compliance can be difficult, compounded because there are various EMC standards for different product categories—and since their inception, these standards have been changing on a regular basis.
Understanding today’s standards begins with the basics: harmonized or generic. Harmonized standards have been adopted by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), or the European Tele-communications Standards Institute (ETSI) and are published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Compliance with harmonized standards assumes conformity to the corresponding essential requirements of the EC directives.
If no specific harmonized standard is available, generic standards apply. Generic standards include test parameters and specifications. They do not encompass measurement procedures included in the basic standards.
There are two generic standards: EN 50081 for emissions and EN 50082 for immunity. Each of these standards has two parts: Part 1 (EN 50081-1 and EN 50082-1) for residential, commercial, and light industry and Part 2 (EN 50081-2 and EN 50082-2) for the industrial environment.
Our discussion will focus on basic generic standards and their test specifications. For undated references, the latest edition of the standard applies. The differences are described to help you understand the impact of the new version.
For a comprehensive list of commonly used EU EMC standards and their titles, click here.
Generic Emissions Standards
Table 1 outlines the generic emission standards, test parameters and specifications, and the basic standards to which the generic standards refer. The basic standards in Table 1 are harmonized.
Table 1. Generic Emission Standards
Standards
79 dBmV quasipeak (QP), 66 dBmV (avg.)
0.5 to 30 MHz,
73 dBmV (QP), 60 dBmV (avg.)
30 to 230 MHz, 30 dBmV/m at 30 m
230 to 1,000 MHz, 37 dBmV at 30 m
(replaced by EN 55014-1)
dBmV (avg.)
0.5 to 5 MHz,
56 dBmV (QP), 46 dBmV (avg.)
5 to 30 MHz,
60 dBmV (QP), 50 dBmV (avg.)
30 to 230 MHz, 30 dBmV
at 10 m
230 to 1,000 MHz, 37 dBmV at
10 m
EN 55011: 1991 and EN 55011: 1998
Products that comply with EN 55011: 1991 may continue to be placed on the market until Jan. 1, 2001. EN 55011: 1998 added the following:
- Normative references (subclause 1.2).
- Provisions for protection of specific sensitive radio services (subclause 5.4).
- Single- and multiple-zone induction cooling appliances (subclause 6.5.6).
- Safety-related service bands (annexes E).
- Sensitive service bands (annexes F).
- Normative references to international publications with their corresponding European publications.
EN 55014: 1993 and EN 55014-1: 1997
With Amendment A1: 1997, EN 55014 was renumbered to EN 55014-1, and the title was changed. In addition, Amendment A1 more clearly states the measuring procedures and arrangements for appliances (not hand-held) normally operated without a ground connection (subclause 5.2.2.1). It adds the standard operating conditions and normal loads for air-conditioning equipment (subclause 7.3.1.20). There also are some minor changes in 7.1.4, 8.3.1, and Figure 9.
EN 55022: 1994 and EN 55022: 1998
Products that comply with EN 55022: 1994 may continue to be placed on the market until Aug. 1, 2001. Here are the main differences between EN 55022: 1994 and EN 55022: 1998:
- The 1998 version added the requirement for telecommunication ports (subclause 5.2 and 9.5).
- The disturbance power requirement (clauses 7 and 12) in the 1994 version was removed.
- Several annexes were added to the 1998 version: Annex B (normative)—decision tree for peak detector measurements, Annex C (normative)—possible test setups for common-mode measurements, Annex D (informative)—schematic diagrams of impedance stabilization networks (ISN), and Annex E (informative)—parameters of signals at telecommunication ports.
EN 60555-2: 1987 and EN 61000-3-2: 1995/A12: 1996
Products that complied with EN 60555-2: 1987 before June 1, 1998, may continue to be placed on the market until Jan. 1, 2001.
EN 60555-2 is applicable to household appliances and similar electrical equipment connected to 220/380 V, 230/400 V, and 240/415 V, 50 Hz. Some examples are appliances for cooking and heating, motor-operated or magnetically driven appliances, portable tools, light dimmers, and radio and television receivers. There is only one limit in the standard.
EN 61000-3-2 is applicable to electrical and electronic equipment connected to a public distribution system with an input current up to and including 16 A per phase. For products with an operating voltage of less than 220 V (line-to-neutral), the limits have not been considered yet.
The products are grouped into four classes for the purpose of harmonic current limits. Class A includes balanced, three-phase equipment and all other equipment except that listed in Class B, Class C, and Class D. Class B comprises portable tools. Class C is lighting equipment including dimming devices. Class D equipment has an input current with a special wave shape as defined in Figure 1 of EN 61000-3-2 and input power £600 W measured under the test conditions given in the relevant clause of Annex C of EN 61000-3-2.
The limits for Class A equipment are identical to the limits in EN 60555-2. The limits for Class B equipment are the Class A limits multiplied by a factor of 1.5. The limits for Class C equipment are a percentage of the input current at the fundamental frequency. The limits for Class D equipment are expressed in both harmonic current per watt and harmonic current.
EN 60555-3: 1987/A1: 1991 and EN 61000-3-3: 1995
EN 60555-3 is applicable to household appliances and similar electrical equipment connected to distribution systems up to 240 V (single-phase) or 415 V (three-phase) at 50 Hz. The list of examples includes appliances for cooking and heating, motor-operated or magnetically driven appliances, and portable tools.
EN 60555-3 classifies voltage-fluctuation waveforms into four types. Compliance requirements are based on a voltage-fluctuation waveform.
EN 61000-3-3 applies to electrical and electronic equipment connected to a public distribution system between 220 V and 250 V (line-to-neutral) at 50 Hz with an input current up to and including 16 A per phase.
Generic Immunity Standards
Table 2 outlines the EU generic EMC immunity standards, test parameters and specifications, and the basic standards to which they refer. The basic standards in Table 2 are not harmonized. Table 2 does not include EN 50082-1: 1992 which will expire in 2001. The information regarding EN 50082-1: 1992 can be found in Reference 2.
Table 2. Generic Immunity Standards
Standards
Criteria
(replaced by EN 61000-4-3: 1996)
±8-kV air discharge
±8-kV air discharge
±0.5-kV DC power ports
±1.0-kV AC power ports
±1-kV DC power ports
±2-kV AC power ports
±2-kV process control ports
±1-kV line to line
80% AM w/1-kHz sine wave
80% AM w/1-kHz sine wave
60% reduction, 100 ms
>95% reduction, 5,000 ms
C
C
ENVs are interim standards intended to be used for three years or less, then superceded by a formal EN standard. ENV 50140: 1993 was replaced by EN 61000-4-3: 1996.
ENV 50141: 1993 was superceded by EN 61000-4-6: 1996. ENV 50204, for the purpose of immunity requirements in EN 61000-4-3, was replaced by Amendment 1: 1998 of EN 61000-4-3. The requirement for 900 ±5-MHz pulse modulation in ENV 50204 was replaced by 800 to 960 MHz and 1.4 to 2.0 GHz, 80% amplitude modulation in Amendment 1: 1998 of EN 61000-4-3.
EN 61000-4-X (X=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 11) is identical to IEC 1000-4-X except for EN 61000-4-3. The differences between EN 61000-4-3 and IEC 1000-4-3 are in Subclause 6.2. EN 61000-4-3 specifies the minimum uniform area as 0.5 m x 0.5 m, such as a four-point grid.
There is a relaxation in EN 61000-4-3 for the uniform area tolerance >+6 dB up to +10 dB, not less than -0 dB, for a maximum of 3% of the test frequencies, provided that the actual tolerance is stated in the test report. In the range of 3 V/m to 10 V/m, besides a field sensor, a power meter is acceptable to record the forward power delivered to the field-generating antenna. The text of IEC 1000-4-3 Subclause 6.2 is included in the EN 61000-4-3 annex.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank Dr. Roland Gubisch of Intertek Testing Services NA for his support of this article.
References
- europa.eu.int/comm/dg03/directs/dg3b/
newapproa/eurstd/. - Alvarado, M. and Lin, G., “What Standard to Use? EN 50082-1: 1992 or EN 50082-1: 1997,” EE-Evaluation Engineering, July 1999, pp. S-58-S-63.
About the Author
Grace Lin is a senior project engineer in Telco Stream, an Intertek Testing Services group that focuses on the telecommunications industry. She holds a B.S. in electronic engineering from National Taiwan Ocean University and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Syracuse University. Ms. Lin has worked in the EMC field since 1984 and been employed by ITS for more than seven years. e-mail: [email protected]
Michael J. Alvarado is a senior project engineer at ITS. He has been involved in compliance engineering since 1983 and worked in an R&D group and an engineering group testing for U.S. and foreign markets. Mr. Alvarado, an ITS employee for six years, is a graduate of Orange County Community College and holds an A.A.S. in electrical engineering. e-mail: [email protected]
Intertek Testing Services NA, 1950 Evergreen Blvd., Suite 100, Duluth, GA 30096, (678) 775-2400.
Published by EE-Evaluation Engineering
All contents © 2000 Nelson Publishing Inc.
No reprint, distribution, or reuse in any medium is permitted
without the express written consent of the publisher.
July 2000