Certifications for Liion small battery (To sell in Europe and US-Canada) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Hydrochloride
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2024, 01:04:21 pm
content: So I been checking what certifications are needed for selling commercially and shipping Li-Ion batteries ( a mechanical solution + BMS + IEC 62133-2 certified cells) and I would like to know if I'm missing something from this list. Or if its overly certified.Certifications needed (my guess) :Bad use, stress tests (USA) -> UL 2054Bad use, stress tests (EU) -> IEC62133-2PCB electrical safety -> IEC 62368-1PCB EMC compliance (EU) -> EN55032/EN55035PCB EMC compliance(USA) -> FCC15Air + sea transport -> UN38.3+ IEC62281CE/UKCA marksHazardous substances -> RoHSElectronic waste -> WEEEIs all of this required? There are some that are clearly necessary to sell in the EU (CE mark) and in the US (FCC Part 15, as the RED directive applies to me due to the product the battery will connect to). However, I have doubts about whether the following are needed:UN38.3 + IEC62281 :: Do I need both, or is just one of them sufficient?UL2054 + IEC62133-2 :: Do I need both, or is just one of them sufficient?The product we sell requires a removable battery, no more than 35Wh. There is no access to the cells; it is a sealed product. It can be used in residential environments but the market is industrial.(It's not a commercial product like a laptop or a digital watch; it's an industrial product used by personnel working with the main equipment.) It will be sold and distributed together with the product, but the battery can also be shipped as spare parts. Therefore, the battery could be shipped alone on a pallet by air or sea.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2024, 01:27:34 pm
content: UN38.3 is probably the most important one by far as this concentrates on battery pack safety.You could do EMC tests but only if your client insists. When the battery is integrated in a product, the product as a whole needs to be CE / FCC certified. So for starters I wouldn't go beyond pre-compliance tests for radiated emissions, radiated immunity and ESD (and maybe conducted emissions) to see if your battery pack as-is isn't prone to causing issues getting a product as a whole CE / FCC certified.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2024, 02:27:18 pm
content: Sure UN38.3 is necessary unless you want to drive them to each customer yourself.Otherwise this is the kind of stuff that people charge 350 EUR an hour to tell you, and you really, really, really shouldn't just trust some randos on a forum to tell you.

author: Hydrochloride
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2024, 08:01:05 am
content: Yes, for these kinds of things it’s best to pay for it, but I wanted to check in a forum like this to see if it made sense to certify the product so extensively. I'm basing it on another product from our brand that was certified for everything listed years ago (I wasn't working at this company then. And the person who did it no longer works here either.). But from what I'm reading in forums like this one, in manufacturers' documentation, and in articles, it seems to be standard for lithium batteries (to a certain extent, as I don’t believe all batteries on the U.S./EU market are fully certified). But anyway, it’s better not to cut corners on certifications if the project can handle it.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2024, 11:19:23 am
content: First: you'll need to consult an expert on this for a definitive answer.However, UN38.3 will be mandatory for sure. From there you'll probably need local safety approvals as well but these are likely very similar to UN38.3. And CE / UL / FCC are typically quite close where it comes to requirements and test methods so doing a all-in-one certification is likely possible.If the expert you consult suggests to do EMC related tests, it is time to let that person explain to you why he/she thinks that is necessary. It could be required but it can also be based on a misunderstanding. So make sure you fully understand why & how tests are perfomed and whether you agree with how the standards are interpreted. Recently I had to explain to a big (world wide operating) testing house how to interpret FCC rules where it comes to doing certain tests. Language barrier en dealing with interpunction where the problem.