New EMC standard

CONTACT

Baudisch Electronic GmbH

Fields of application of the EMC standard EN 55015

The EMC standard applies to the emission (radiated and conducted) of high-frequency
disturbance variables from:

 

• Lighting devices (= devices that can be used as an independent unit to illuminate a scene, objects or their surroundings so that they can be seen).
• Lighting devices of multifunctional devices where one of the main tasks is lighting. Examples include lighting devices that use visible light to communicate and lighting devices used for entertainment purposes.
• Ultraviolet and infrared devices for domestic and non-industrial applications
• Advertising lights, billboards and the like, e.g. fluorescent tube installations
• lighting equipment for decorative purposes (decorative lighting)
• Emergency lights

An example from practice

A development engineer comes to our EMC laboratory with his product, an LED luminaire. Among other standards, the renewed EN 55015 standard applies to this product for emitted interference. The development engineer informs us about the following features via the EMC questionnaire:

• color change and brightness settings are possible
• the lamp contains a data port, which is led to and connected to an internal communication unit
• the whole electronics is built in a housing and has two connectors
• communication connector (both wires are longer than 30 m)
• 230 VAC (internal wide range power supply 100 VAC – 240 VAC with 50 Hz or 60 Hz) with PE connection
• the connected lines are unshielded
• the maximum power is 100 W

Test instructions

We compare the characteristics of the DUT with the standard and prepare corresponding test instructions:

• Operating and measuring conditions of the DUT
  The disturbances caused by manual or automatic switching are not to be considered.
  The operating voltage must be within ± 2 % during the test, in our case 230 VAC.
  A test at 50 Hz is sufficient – the spurious emissions at the other mains frequency are considered to be covered by this measurement.
• Nominal lamp load and light control
  Since the brightness of the DUT can be changed, the emitted interference must be measured at the highest and lowest light output.
• Operating modes
  Since the UUT can be used with different color modes, measurements must be made in the worst case. The worst case must be determined by a preceding orienting search run in each operating mode over at least one operating cycle of the respective operating mode.
• Ambient conditions
  Tests shall be conducted in the laboratory under normal ambient temperatures in the range of 15°C to 30°C or, if the range is more restricted, within the range specified by the manufacturer in the operating manual.
• Lamps
  The lighting equipment shall be operated with all lamps simultaneously.
• Aging time
  LED technologies do not require aging from the EMC point of view (that is, the lamp does not need to be in operation before).
• Stabilization time
  Before starting the measurement, the DUT must be in operation until the luminous flux has stabilized – unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer, 15 min.
• Interfaces which are not intended for permanent signal or data transmission
  Since data transmission is not required for maintaining the status of the DUT, signal transmission need not be performed during measurements.

EMC tests

Together with the development engineer we perform the following measurements in our EMC laboratory to test the DUT for the new EMC standard:

• The tests are performed with minimum and maximum brightness (color white) as well as with all colors. In total 3 measurements have to be performed
• Interference voltage measurement at the 230 VAC supply connection in the range of 9 kHz – 30 MHz via a network replica
• Interference voltage measurement at the data connections (local line connections) via a network simulation or a probe in the range of 150 kHz – 30 MHz
• Time requirement approx. 1.5 h for the line-based measurements
• Interference field strength in the fully absorber room in the range of 30 MHz – 1 GHz
• Time requirement approx. 4.5 h for the radiated measurements
The following measurements do not have to be performed:
• Radiated interference emission in the frequency range 9 kHz – 30 MHz.
  Justification: The tests must be performed if the DUT is capable of generating large magnetic dipole moments due to its design or topology. A large magnetic dipole moment occurs when a significant parasitic current flows in a loop with a large surface area. DC powered LED sources with a magnetic ballast represent a device that has a small magnetic dipole moment.

Further tests of the directives for CE marking are also carried out in the Baudisch EMC laboratory. By passing these EMC tests, the development engineer has confirmation that his product complies with all current standards.

Is your product affected by the renewal of the EMC standard EN 55015? We check your device for compliance with the new standard and define measures for interference suppression if required.