New US Dept. of Energy Test Procedure for External Power Supplies

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has published a new procedure for testing of external power supplies regarding energy efficiency. Essentially, the new procedure amends the scope of power supply types covered and provides details on testing configurations.

It provides more specific instructions for testing single-voltage external power supplies with multiple-output busses and external power supplies shipped without an output cord. Also, it provides instructions allowing for functionality unrelated to the external power supply circuit to be disconnected during testing (if the disconnection does not impact the functionality of the external power supply itself) and it better
delineate requirements for single-voltage, multiple-voltage, and adaptive external power supplies.

The final rule changes will be mandatory for product testing 180 days after the date of publication in the US Federal Register.

The actual changes from the current EPS test procedure include amongst other the following:

-Adopts a definition of “commercial and industrial power supply” and amends the definition of “external power supply” to expressly exclude any “commercial and industrial power supply.”

-Specifies explicitly that devices for which the primary load of the converted voltage within the device is not delivered to a separate end-use product, are not subject to the test procedure.

-Provides additional direction for testing single-voltage EPSs with multiple- output busses and multiple-voltage adaptive EPSs.

-Requires EPSs that are not supplied with an output cord to be tested with an output cord recommended for use by the manufacturer.

 The new procedure is available in full at this link.

For further information, please contact JonIvar.Tidemann@nemko.com

(Article is based on various sources, edited by T.Sollie)