How to Apply for the IEC/UL 62368 Test Report

What are the requirements for the IEC/ul 62368 electrical distance test report?

The 62368-1 standard has already been implemented in most countries and regions. As a commonly applicable standard for IT and communication equipment, as well as computer peripheral products, ensuring that products comply with the 62368-1 standard has become a crucial step for entering the international market. Among these requirements, electrical distance plays a highly critical role in safety assessments. Preventing electric shock hazards is the primary focus of safety evaluations, and maintaining proper electrical distance is an important method for fulfilling electric shock protection requirements.

Introduction to the iec 62368 Standard Test Report

The safety requirements for audio products have gradually shifted from the passive safety regulations of the past (IEC/en 60065 & IEC/en 60950-1) to the active hazard-prevention safety standard IEC/EN 62368-1:2014 (Second Edition). In addition, the international standard IEC 62368-1:2018 and the EU standard EN 62368-1:2020 (both referred to as the Third Edition) have been successively released to the market.

If you plan to export audio and video products to Europe in the near future, we recommend using EN 62368-1:2014 (Second Edition) to meet the standard update deadline before the end of 2020 and to seize market entry opportunities. Furthermore, the United States and Canada have fully adopted UL 62368-1 as their standard, and it is expected that the UL 62368-1 standard will completely replace the current UL 60950-1 and UL 60065.

Routine Test Items for the IEC 62368 Test Report

1. Basic requirements (component structure, labels and instructions, energy source classification and protection, safeguards, explosion)

2. Electrically-caused injury (protection against electrical energy sources, insulating materials and requirements, safeguard components)

3. Electrically-caused fire (classification of power sources and potential ignition sources, fire safeguards, internal and external wiring)

4. Injury caused by hazardous substances

5. Mechanically-caused injury

6. Thermal burn

7. Radiation (classification of radiation energy sources, safeguards against laser radiation, safeguards against acoustic energy sources)

Clearance Requirements of 62368-1

For clearance (electrical gap) requirements, the corresponding clause in 62368-1 is 5.4.2, which serves as the primary method for evaluating clearance. Alternatively, Annex X provides a second substitute method, allowing you to choose one of the two approaches.

a) Clause 5.4.2 of 62368-1 requires the use of two paths to evaluate clearance: the working voltage look-up table method (Clause 5.4.2.2) and the withstand voltage look-up table method (Clause 5.4.2.3). You must then take the higher value between the two. Because the content of this clause is quite extensive, it is usually summarized into tables for ease of understanding and application.

Creepage Distance Requirements of 62368-1

Compared to the clearance requirements, the creepage distance requirements in Clause 5.4.3 of 62368-1 are relatively simple. They are summarized as follows:

1. For basic and supplementary insulation, refer to Table 17 (corresponding to Table 18 in the Second Edition).

2. When applying Table 17 and Table 18, the value for reinforced insulation is equal to twice the value of basic insulation.

3. If the circuit frequency is 30 kHz < F ≤ 400 kHz, refer to Table 18 for the minimum creepage distance (corresponding to Table 19 in the Second Edition). If the value found is less than that in Table 17, you must apply the value from Table 17.

4. When the calculated creepage distance is less than the clearance, the creepage distance shall be set equal to the clearance value.