IEC/UL/EN 60950-1 Amendment 2

CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique) published what is believed to be the last change to the EN 60950-1 standard in August 2013.  60950-1 covers general safety requirements for Information Technology Equipment (ITE).  Commonly known as “Amendment 2”, the safety files will now refer to either EN 60950-1:2006 + A11:2009 + A1:2010 + A12:2011 + A2:2013 or EN 60950-1:2006/A2:2013.  The date of withdrawal is July 2^nd, 2016 and power supply manufacturers are updating their files to the new version of the standard.

UL & CSA announced their update to 60950-1 on October 14^th, 2014, but unlike Europe, the Amendment 2 revision is not mandatory to existing files.  New products though are being certified to UL 60950-1, 2nd Edition, 2014-10-14 and CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 60950-1-07, 2nd Edition, 2014-10.

This should be the last change as June 2019 will see the move to IEC 62368-1:2014 for both IEC 60950-1 and IEC 60065.  The changes are considered as mainly clarifications to smooth that transition.  The safety bodies have commented on their websites that there would be minimal impact to power supply manufacturers for Amendment 2.

The changes for most power supplies for Amendment 2 are:

Any graphics used are to comply with ISO standards and must be explained in the installation manual.

Humidity testing has been introduced for equipment “designated for tropical regions”.  CCC & CQC certifications for China are already referring to this.

Similarly, to reflect a common Chinese requirement for 5,000m operation, the addition of a symbol will indicate if the equipment is to be operated at a maximum of 2,000m.  This is not an issue for UL, EN or CB.

Non lead acid batteries (with the exception of button cells) must comply with IEC 62133, and will only affect a very limited number of power supplies.

The use of VDRs - voltage dependant resistors – (a major change for Edition 1), have had a flammability requirement added.

As a note, all the self-certified Declarations of Conformity for CE marking will have to be re-written and posted.