Eldon enclosures comply with the new standard IEC 61439

12-02-2016

What does the standard apply to?

The IEC 61439 standard defines the service conditions, construction requirements, technical characteristics and verification requirements for low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies. The standard applies to low-voltage and control assemblies intended for use in applications such as generation, transmission, distribution and conversion of electrical energy.

CE marking is required for low-voltage switchgear and control gear assemblies constructed within the EU. This marking states that affected products must be assessed before being supplied to the market to confirm that they meet EU safety, health, and environmental protection requirements.

The manufacturer must prepare a Declaration
of Conformity (CE DoC) and demonstrate that the Low Voltage Directive is applied. To do so, the way forward for the manufacturer is to comply with the relevant harmonised standards, which for electrical panels is IEC 61439.

Eldon products affected
Eldon provides products that become part of an assembly. The following products from Eldon are affected by the new standard:

• Enclosures
• Busbar support
• Thermal management equipment.

Eldon as a supplier of empty enclosures

Strength of material parts 
The standard states: “Where an empty enclosure in accordance with IEC 62208 is used, and has not been modified so as to degrade the performance of the enclosure, no repetition of the enclosure testing is required.”

Degree of protection of enclosures
The standard states: “Where an empty enclosure in accordance with IEC 62208 is used, a verification assessment shall be performed to ensure that any external modification that has been carried out does not result in a deterioration of the degree of protection. In this case no further testing is required.”

All Eldon enclosures have been tested according to standard IEC 62208 by the independent laboratory KEMA-DEKRA who has issued compliance certificates, and enclosures are marked with the KEMA KEUR mark.

Eldon enclosures comply with the new standard IEC 61439 but because the standard IEC 61439 is for complete assemblies, certification cannot be issued for empty enclosures according to this standard.

Eldon as an original manufacturer and assembly systems supplier
The Eldon Power System (EPS) means that manufactured assemblies including various components such as switches, breakers, and contactors have been tested by the independent Swedish laboratory Intertek-Semko. The results have been presented in the Statement of Test Results SE-1405658 by Intertek-Semko. Eldon is an approved original manufacturer and all assemblies produced following the design and manufacturing rules as described in the Eldon Power System Manual, do not need to be tested again.

Eldon’s EPS is a tested and approved assembly system according to the IEC 61439 standard.

Eldon’s support in the design verification stage
Eldon has conducted several different tests and developed specific tools to facilitate design verification of the assemblies according to the standard IEC 61439.

The design verification phase comprises the following steps:

• Strength of materials and parts
• Degree of protection of assemblies
• Clearances and creepage distances
• Protection against electric shock and integrity of protective circuits
• Incorporation of switching devices and components
• Internal electrical circuits and connections
• Terminals for external conductors
• Dielectric properties
• Verification of temperature rise
• Short-circuit withstand strength
• Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
• Mechanical operation

Please don’t hesitate to contact your nearest Eldon sales representative for further information on Eldon’s compliance to the new IEC 61439 standard.