International standards

There is no such thing as "the international market." Your product must comply with the regulatory standards of the country in which you wish to sell the product. If the market is the USA, then the FCC (and possibly other groups, depending on what your electronic product is and does) would have requirements. If the market is the EU, then there are a number of Directives that would be applicable. China is another game, so is Australia.

Identify the market and identify the product's function and users to get more specific advice.

No ? Getting pretty damn close !

No ! You're wrong.

With the exception of the USA. IEC norms apply. End of story. The USA is slowly applying IEC norms in UL etc standards too.

Graham

Uho, the EEC has it's own standards with respect to safety. Sure, most of them are based on IEC, but some of them are much more restrictive. For instance, the plugs in the US or Australia could not even make it to market in Europe, they are not safe enough. I mean, it's way too easy to touch the metal part if the plug is not fully inserted. And that's only one example.

slowly

National plugs and sockets aren't set by IEC norms. Just the preferred 'equipment end' as per IEC 320 etc....

Graham

Hi,

I notice that most 3-pin sockets in the U.S. have the ground pin at the bottom which is opposite to the U.K. norm. From a safety angle I would have thought this to be a 'no-no'. Turning it round would put the ground pin where 'little fingers' and dropped objects would be most likely to make contact instead of the live pin as now. Am I missing something then, apart from numerous brain cells? Cheers - Joe

slowly

Not true.

In Australia since March it is mandatory for insulated plugs. Beside that the configuration is different and they wouldn't fit anyway.

Cheers.

Oh, I didn't know it had changed. That's good news for it was very common to see the pins accessible by a few millimeters between the plug and the outlet. But is it only for new devices, or do everyone have to change their hardware?

So i will be more specific. The products are for water analysing (conductivity, oxygen, ...) and used in power plants.

What requirement would this product have in the USA ? Does the FCC control if the product comply with the regulatory standard used un the USA ?

What requirement would this product have in the EU ? Who controls if the product comply with the regulatory standard used in EU ?

Thank you for your answers Rudolf

Approximately, the relevant standards that are current in every country in which the company wishes to sell the product. That can get quite complicated! Regards JonH

Start with the ISO and IEC standards and then look at those applicable in Europe, USA, Australia, NZ and Russia. You will find that most of them are closely related to the ISO (although some of the RF bands may be different for EMI testing purposes). Certainly many of the European standards are drafted close to the ISO/IEC standards. You will have to purchase many of these standards but a trip to a decent library should assist you determine the ones that are most suitable for your product. I know that if you happen to mention what your product is others here could provide a reference for the exact standards that you should comply to.

It's 'cause in the US we like that little face. :-)

Cheers! Rich

You're not missing anything. I don't think there is a "standard" nor is it written into code that the ground pin shall be on the bottom. It just sorta works out that way. A my POE the ground pins are up, as you expect. Indeed they're up on both sites (different states) I've worked in, though an informal poll of sites across the country showed that some were up and some down, by edict even. It seems that cords are made assuming the pin is down though. With the pin up some tend to work loose from the wall.

Not only that, but its easier to see to line the prongs up when the ground is on the bottom.

Yeah ? Just curious.

In the UK we have the ground pin *up* by default. Irrelevant when you use a power strip extension though.

Oh and our power pins are often sheathed for much of their length too as of some date well in the past, although this seems to be optional.

Graham

slowly

They are ?

All the EN's I've come across are essentially adopted versions of the relevant IEC document.

Graham

I once dropped a metal ruler on a plug that was not all the way in it's socket. Caused a loud band, tripped the breaker, and burnt/melted parts of the plug and ruler. Ever since, I've wondered why they don't put the ground prong up.

I read on another discussion board that electricians (in U.S.) tend to put the ground plug up on switched outlets, and down on unswitched outlets. It's just a convention, to make it easy to tell which outlets are tied to a switch. It's not dictated by any code, though, and I notice that a switched outlet in my house has ground pin down like all the rest.

Mark

What do they do with split receptacles?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

All the receptacles in my house (except the washer and refrigerator) are split. The upper is switched and the lower not.

In San Francisco, the convention is ground-up for commercial work, ground-down for residential!

John