IEC 62368-1 2018 (Ed.3) Standard Issued

On 4th October, 2018, the International Electrotechnical Commission IECEE officially issued the 3rd edition of the safety standard IEC 62368-1:2018 for information technology, audio video and communication equipment.It will be announced later that the IECEE 3rd edition standard will completely replace the second edition standard IEC 62368-1:2014 and the traditional safety standards IEC 60950-1, IEC 60065. The IEC official third edition of the Standard Test Report Template (TRF) is still in preparation,and will be issued on the official website.

EN standard transition

The transition time for the European version of EN 62368-1 Ed.2 and EN 60950-1, EN 60065 is likely to be in line with the postponed EN 62368-1: 2014 Ed.2, so maybe the standard of EN 62368-1 3rd edition will be directly mandatory from 20th December 2020. This means that the EN 62368-1:2014 (Ed.2) standard does not have actual enforcement time. Because the 3rd edition standard addresses the major flaws of the second edition, it is more suitable for carrying out, and will ensure a smoother transition.

Major changes in the 3rd edition

Compared to the second edition,the third edition of IEC62368-1 has both new added and changed terms. The main differences are:

• Increased requirements for outdoor equipment

• New requirements for optical radiation

• Increased requirements for liquid insulation

• Increased the requirements for a complete set of work components / work units

• Increased requirements for wireless power transmitters

• Increased requirements for fully insulated winding wires

• Optional method for determining the opening and closing of the fire protection shell

• Alternative requirements for sound pressure