A-S drives' passport to Europe, Part 2

In Part 1 of this series (PTD, April 96, p. 25), we discussed how important the European CE Mark is when selling adjustable-speed drives to companies in the 19-member European Union (EU) or to companies exporting equipment containing A-S drives to the EU. The 19 members in this Union include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

In short, since the first of this year, this certification has been required; and in 1997, drive modules and systems must be CE marked to indicate conformance to the low-voltage directive to demonstrate electrical safety.

However, the terms and process are complex. Figure 1 and Figure 2 may help you better understand the process.

But, before proceeding, some terms should again be defined.

EMC. Electromagnetic compatibility includes both electromagnetic radiation and immunity of equipment to such radiated energy.

Relevant apparatus. Equipment that has intrinsic function and is ready for installation.

Intrinsic function. A pre-packaged unit (such as a pump speed controller) that is sold directly to an end user as a drive package has intrinsic function (and is therefore relevant apparatus), because the end user only needs to install the unit to be operational.

To obtain more information

To obtain copies of the specifications, testing procedures, and other information about the CE Mark, contact:

Press and Public Relations
Delegation of the European Commission
European Union
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
Phone (voice): 202-862-9500

Martin Payn, Ph.D, is the R&D conformance manager with Eurotherm Drives Ltd., Littlehampton, UK, and Michael F. Fekete is a technical writer, Eurotherm Drives Inc., Charlotte.