cecertificationledul
I am working on a fairly simple LED product that would use an external power supply (12V). Certain configurations of the product may require more than 100W. I could also configure the product to use 24V.
Are Class 2 power supplies my limit before requiring CE/CSA certification? Or is there a voltage/power limit before legally requiring CE/CSA certification?
Thanks in advance.
My experience with explosion proof is that it's all in the enclosure. When I worked for an industrial power control company we would put our normal NEMA 1 rated equipment into massive steel enclosures with bolts every inch or two inches and it would meet all explosion proof requirements.
Crazy expensive enclosures, mind you, but the requirement is that if explosive vapours were present and a relay were to arc or a component fail and a spark be present, that it won't cause an explosion.
There's a company called UL that certifies electrical devices for safety and publishes several standards related to electrical safety. You can read about Class 2 Power Units in more detail but in general they are isolated and should be a good choice for safety.
Personally for the sake of saving a few dollars I'd stick with a power supply that has been UL certified rather than one of unknown origin / safety and it should have a mark such as the following:
You're correct that I.T.E stands for information technology equipment. There's a related question here Why are laptop power supplies marked “IT equipment only”? and while they may work OK you'd be best to avoid using them for other purposes.
Best Answer
I can only give some ideas for CE marking: -
It seems likely you can self-certify for CE but you need to create a technical file/document that justifies that your product meets the relevant directives and that any testing you have done is applicable and results indicate an acceptable "pass".
At 24V, you are within the voltage limits of the "Low voltage directive" so this doesn't apply BUT you should specify that a power supply that is CE marked is used.
However, you may be subject to the EMC directive in which case you have to justify why the limited tests you may apply justify not conducting full EMC testing.
There are a bunch of other directives that probably won't apply but it is down to you to specify which ones do and which ones don't AND, in the technical document justify why your product meets those various directives.
You also need to draft up a certificate that states all this stuff. There are examples on the web and there are good guidelines: -
UK government website for CE marking
guide on CE marking