EN62368 Compliant Power Supplies

Relec Electronics are pleased to be able to offer a range of power supplies which are fully compliant with the latest safety standards EN62368.  We also offer full support on migrating legacy products to EN62368 from EN60950.  For best advice call our technical team today who will be more than happy to help you.

All electronic equipment put on to the open market needs to be approved to a relevant safety standard. Over the past few decades there have been 3 standards which are relevant to all electronic products:

• EN 60950-1 deals with the safety of IT and communications equipment
• EN 60065 covers the safety of audio, video and similar electronic apparatus.
• EN 60601 covers the safety of medical equipment.

The technology within IT, communications and audio/video equipment has over time started to overlap, so a new standard EN62368-1 is in the process of being introduced. EN62368 (1st ed) was originally introduced in 2012 and quickly replaced by EN62368-1 (2nd ed) in 2014, with a 3rd edition planned for Q4 2018. This will supersede the EN 60950-1 and the EN 60065 standards by June 2019. However, the formal date for withdrawal of EN60950 and EN60065 is not until December 2020 in the European Union.

Components and sub assemblies that comply with EN60950 or EN60065 can be used as part of equipment covered by EN62368. No further evaluation is necessary other than to consider the appropriate use of the component or sub assembly in the end product. Please be aware however that in the EU after Dec 2020 EN60065 and EN60950 certified components will no longer be permitted in equipment investigated to EN62368 without further investigation.

EN62368-1 3rd edition will contain a refinement of the requirements for creepage and clearance including a new prescriptive option (Annex X which will be based on EN60950 tables). This is due to be published in Q3/4 2018

So what are the practical issues associated with transitioning components certified to EN60065 or EN60950 into products investigated to EN62368-1? Generally speaking, power supplies certified to EN60950 have outputs which are specified as SELV (Safe extra low voltage). In EN62368-1 this has been replaced with the ES1 energy source classification. Whilst the two standards do differ in the way they treat energy sources and hazards, an SELV circuit is safe to touch, just as an ES1 source is by definition in EN62368-1. EN62368-1 does clearly set out in its scope that the legacy component provision should “…provide a smooth transition from the latest editions IEC 60950-1 & IEC60065 to this standard”.

One other issue which does need to be addressed is backward compatibility between EN62368-1 and EN60950/EN60065. There are equipment manufacturers that are continuing to certify their products to EN60950 / EN60065 (as they have not been withdrawn yet) and may have to use components which are now certified to EN62368-1. It is understood that provision will be made with the legacy standards to allow incorporation of components designed, investigated and certified to EN62368-1

Here at Relec Electronics we are working closely with all our suppliers of power supplies to ensure that we are fully aware of what transitions they are making moving from legacy standards to EN62368-1. Our technical staff are all informed of the issues involved, both with regards new product designs and transitions of older equipment to the new standard. If you require any further assistance our technical team will be more than happy to help you.