Thus, the standard contains the necessary technical specifications that these products or devices must meet to comply with the essential health and safety requirements established in the relevant directive, in this case, the Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU) and the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC). These requirements are essential for obtaining the CE marking, which is required for any company wishing to market its products in the European Union.
Main Changes to the Standard:
Eaton has analyzed the main changes included in the latest version of the EN 60204-1 standard.
Regarding the general requirements (Chapter 4), there are no significant changes. However, references to IEC 61439 and Annex F have been added for electrical panels. Furthermore, the most important measures and best practices for complying with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements are listed more comprehensively. Finally, the new edition includes specifications relating to vibration, shock, impact, and operating altitude in the environmental conditions section.
Chapter 5 includes devices that interrupt the power supply to prevent unintended starts (supply conductor terminals and disconnect and shutdown devices).
Regarding equipment protection, Chapter 7 includes earth fault/residual current protection. But the most relevant change concerns the rated conditional short-circuit current, which must now be specified for all electrical equipment.
Chapter 10 of the standard is dedicated to the operator interface and machine-mounted control devices. The main change lies in the distinction between emergency stop and emergency disconnect in power disconnect devices. It establishes that an emergency stop is required when mechanical hazards exist, while emergency disconnect devices are mandatory only if an electrical hazard has been identified and they interrupt the voltage.
Regarding the location, mounting, and enclosures of electrical panels, Chapter 11 completely revises the specifications related to heating effects and establishes the need to calculate heating and perform a thermal balance to prevent overheating of the cabinet and its components.
Of particular note is the protection against residual currents for sockets up to 20 A, as indicated in Chapter 15.1. The updated standard now requires RCDs to have a rated residual current IΔn ≤ 30 mA.
Chapter 17, dedicated to technical documentation requirements, presents significant updates, as it now only requires the absolutely necessary documents (those covering the machine's entire life cycle).
Finally, Chapter 18 addresses the testing of power control systems (PDS). This includes specifications for conducting tests on power control systems, including the requirement to verify automatic power disconnection in case of a fault, even if a frequency converter or servomechanism is installed in the circuit.
All Eaton products comply with the specifications established by EN 60204-1:2019.
