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UL Certification

Hi, a customer of ours is asking UL certification of every electronic component used on a device that we have designed (and hopefully will produce) for them. They are not asking for an UL certification of the whole device, just of the PCB (and the manufacturer will provide to us the UL file number) and the components (microcontroller, memories, connectors, etc.); are these certifications available from the manufacturers or do we have to get in touch with the UL Laboratories? Thanks

Reply to
Capoccetta
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If a component is UL certified, this fact us usually mentioned on the first page of the datasheet. If you want to contact UL, they have a website

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and you can search for products and manufacturers there. But I doubt you will find (m)any microcontrollers there.

Why does your customer ask for certification of every component? It is usually enough to have certification for the safety critical devices only. Like mains entry, fuses, wall warts, switches, isolation components, ...

Designing an electronic product with only UL certified parts is, uhmm.. 'impractical'.

--
Stef    (remove caps, dashes and .invalid from e-mail address to reply by mail)

"The following is not for the weak of heart or Fundamentalists."
-- Dave Barry
Reply to
Stef

That sounds like what I know about UL certification for components -- it's not something that I've seen for anything other than components that are going to be seeing the incoming AC; I don't think that UL _cares_ about a part (like the microprocessor) that's inherently incapable of making the product catch on fire.

It also sounds like the customer has been burned* by certification before, but doesn't quite understand the process. This sounds like one of those times that you need to have a conversation that starts with "what do you _really_ need?"

  • as it were
--
www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Depends on the UL standard to which the end item must be tested. UL has required us to use UL-recognized tamper switches (tact pushbuttons!) in some applications.

Any conversation that involves UL is part of a Bad Day.

Reply to
larwe

Unless you're a highly paid compliance engineering consultant :-).

--
www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Heh. UL paperwork+politics is a trap any sentient creature would gnaw a limb off to escape.

Reply to
larwe

Before you bother with any of this, you need to find out exactly what standard(s) apply. This is determined by who will be using it, for what, and where.

Also, components and products are _listed_ as suitable for certain uses and the "conditions of acceptability" detail under what conditions the component passed its testing. Merely having a UL (or CSA, or MET, or whatever) listing number doesn't make a component suitable for every application. You will likely need to obtain a copy of the COA for any "safety critical" components in your design. The manufacturer of a listed component should be able to supply this document - if they won't, don't use the component.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

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