Cranage EMC & Safety

WHAT IS EMC TESTING, AND WHAT IS OUR APPROACH AT CRANAGE EMC AND SAFETY?

05-02-2024

EMC is literally in our name here at Cranage EMC and Safety, but what is it? The short answer is that those initials stand for “electromagnetic compatibility”, which refers to the ability of electrical equipment and systems to provide the performance they are supposed to provide, without interference, when they are located close to each other.

The 2020s is an era in which the typical home or commercial premises can easily contain 10 or more electronic devices at any one time. Unsurprisingly, then, it has become more and more important for brands wishing to bring a particular product to market to look seriously into the EMC test process.

Indeed, in most markets around the world – encompassing the likes of Europe, the United States, China, Australia, and New Zealand – EMC certifications are a mandatory requirement.

The ever-more crucial factor of electromagnetic compatibility

With regulatory bodies around the globe having put in place limits on the levels of radiated and conducted emissions (also known as “electromagnetic interference”) that electrical and electronic products are allowed to generate, it will be of the utmost importance to manufacturers to arrange the right EMC test for such devices.

So, EMC testing effectively has two purposes: making sure a particular device does not emit too high a level of electromagnetic interference, and ensuring it will keep on functioning in the intended way whenever several electromagnetic phenomena are present.

While product performance and regulatory compliance are both key motivations for manufacturers to arrange an EMC test for their devices, such testing can also be crucial for safety reasons.

When it comes to certain products and industries such as military, industrial, medical, automotive, and aerospace devices, EMC performance can be a literal life-or-death matter. So, ensuring the most rigorous and fastidious EMC test approach is followed could barely be more important.

How does Cranage EMC and Safety ‘do’ EMC testing?

Here at Cranage EMC and Safety, we are pleased to confirm that we can offer both pre-compliance and in-situ EMC testing, thanks to our extensive EMC test facilities.

A pre-compliance EMC test can be helpful for evaluating your electronic device’s design before your organisation goes as far as investing in full compliance testing. It will give you the opportunity to work alongside our engineers to pinpoint any EMC issues with your product, so that solutions can be devised during the early design stage, thereby saving you time and money.

A major advantage of using our own EMC test facility for pre-compliance testing, is the fact that our engineers use the same specialised and calibrated equipment that is used in full testing. So, you can have the very greatest confidence in the outcome of this testing being accurate.

Alternatively, in the event of your product being large or in-situ, it is possible to arrange for engineers from Cranage EMC and Safety to attend your own premises to carry out selected EMC tests.

We can undertake a variety of forms of EMC testing at your site, encompassing conducted emissions, radiated electric field emissions, conducted susceptibility, and immunity to electrostatic discharge testing. We can also carry out in-situ testing to determine the given device’s immunity to electrical fast transient bursts on power lines, control, signal, and earth cables.

To find out more about any aspect of our EMC test facilities and processes here at Cranage EMC and Safety, please feel free to enquire to us at our site in Market Drayton, Shropshire. You can also use our straightforward online quote form to ask for a tailored quote from us today.

For more information on WHAT IS EMC TESTING, AND WHAT IS OUR APPROACH AT CRANAGE EMC AND SAFETY? talk to Cranage EMC & Safety