Any business that manufactures or distributes household or non-household electrical products within the European Union needs to comply with the WEEE regulations. They are one of a series of new ‘producer responsibility’ directives that require producers of new equipment to pay for the recycling and/or safe treatment and disposal of the products they put on […]
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RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)
The RoHS directive came into force in 2006 and has had a large impact on the electronics industry. Most categories of electronic products are required to meet the requirements of RoHS, with the primary requirement being the use of lead free components, circuit boards and solder. The widely feared reliability issues have not come to […]
CE Marking
Most categories of electrical products must bear a CE mark if you intend to sell them in the Europe. A CE mark and accompanying Declaration of Conformity is a contract between a manufacturer (producer) and the state that the product complies with the relevant regulations, such as the Low Voltage Directive (LVD), Machinery Directive and […]
IBEX Microchip ICD Programming Cable
Purchasing A Programmer The Microchip ICD4 (and ICD3) is a low cost Microchip in circuit programmer. You can purchase this programmer from: FarnellInOne RS Components It is the Microchip part number “DV164045” you need. As well as in circuit programming the ICD4 is also a debugger, hence being called that in some product descriptions) The […]
In-Circuit Programming Using The Microchip ICD3 or ICD4
The Microchip ICD4 is a great low cost USB programmer we recommend for carrying out in circuit firmware programming and upgrades of Microchip microcontrollers. There are other programmers that are also suitable, however this guide is deals with the Microchip ICD4 (or ICD3). 1. Purchase a Microchip ICD 4 Debugger / Programmer (Microchip part number DV164045). […]
IEC60127
IEC60127 is a set of European standards for fuses. There can be some confusion about this standard as its often unclear if a fuse used in a particular application is required to comply. It is not the case that all fuses used in equipment sold in the European Union must comply with IEC60127.Many applications do […]
European vs American Fuse Standards
One interesting difference between UL and IEC standards for fuses is that American UL standards often state a requirement for a fuse to withstand 100% or 110% rated current for a minimum of 4 hours. This means that the fuse is allowed to fail after 4 hours at its rated current. In effect this means […]
Obtaining full details of a parts UL compliance
UL compliance is generally shown in component data sheets etc as a UL file number which starts with an ‘E’ followed by 6 digits, e.g. ‘E157213’. You can use this number to search the UL Online Certifications Directory (google it) which will bring up the full details of the individual certificate and exactly what it […]
Power Over Ethernet (PoE)
The Standard IEEE 802.3af is the standard, which defines PoE enhancements for new and existing 802.3 networks (existing as before the standard there we’re lots of different bespoke approaches to PoE). Definitions There are 2 types of PoE equipment:- ‘PSE’ power-sourcing equipment. Two types of PSE are defined:- midpoint & endpoint (midpoint being devices that […]