EMC Design Services

INTRODUCTION In our experience, many items of equipment were designed with little consideration of EMC despite, in some cases, having a history of satisfactory operation in the field. Good design practice usually results in intra-system compatibility and problems of this nature are invariably solved in the design process. EMC problems pertaining to the CE mark, i.e. Inter-system compatibility, may not become apparent until the equipment is submitted for testing, or at worst, is already in production with the customer threatening legal action! At this point it is usually a costly experience with high commercial pressures demanding instant action. Extra effort is needed to ensure that the product will meet the legal requirements for EMC and this usually places a different perspective on design particularly if specifications for ingress protection and low voltage safety are to be maintained. THE EMC AUDIT A self-administered method for identifying key factors which influence EMC. The purpose of this check list is substantially four-fold: (1) to be able to develop a consistent approach in product design which will lead to achieving electro-magnetic compatibility first time; (2) to be able to obtain an insight into the thinking and experiences of others working in the same field; (3) not to have to re-think or re-write what has perhaps been done many times before; and (4) to ensure that no vital issue or important aspect of design is overlooked. Cranages' check list is offered as a starting point. To be fully effective, the list needs to be further expanded to meet the needs of the auditor and users should not assume that there are no other factors which might influence EMC performance. The auditor must decide what is relevant and consider all factors which might affect EMC. ANALYSING THE BENEFITS It must be very obvious that unless some attention to EMC is paid in the design process, it will be difficult if not impossible to achieve a pass result. A careful and on-going consideration to EMC in the design process is far more likely to result in a product that will cost less, be more reliable and get placed on the market faster.

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