Conductors should be of an appropriate size for the application, and should pass through openings with no sharp edges with sufficient clearance to prevent fraying or damage. If they are accessible to the user of the product, they must be tested to withstand a certain amount of “strain” (for more on strain relief, see below). Finally you can never cross low voltage and high voltage conductors unless the low voltage wiring is rated for the higher voltage. For example, a wire carrying 12 volts may be in contact with a wire carrying 120 volts so long as it is rated for 120 volts itself.
This process has led production people to do small runs of 50 or 100 units, then they call us so they can avoid the whole system of full certification and follow-up service. We come to the site, inspect the units, label them, and then we go away. If you have another small run we can come back and do it again. We’ve already done the testing , so this time all we have to do is verify that the units you want labeled are the same. Once we do we put a sticker on them. That makes this follow-up less costly. Once we’ve labeled the units, we’re gone. In cases like these we are red-tag erasers. If you get red-tagged we can free the piece of machinery so you can get back into production.
The reality is that most people think that getting a product certified by UL, ETL, CSA, or another NRTL is a relatively easy task. After all, product development engineers know how to design safe products – so confirming it with testing should be a smooth process. This is a great theory, but the opportunities for test failures and non-compliances are literally endless, without knowing exactly what engineers who work for major NRTLs are looking for.
Ideally, a product should be submitted as early as possible during its development. Because we know the value added when you build solutions into products up front, we created Design For Safety Approvals – DFSA™. Bring us in at the front-end. Save your company lost time, money and customers by understanding the compliance requirements in detail before products come off the drawing board.