Inspection of machinery to EN 60204-1
Testing in accordance with EN 60204-1 is regarded as the most important standard for testing the electrical equipment of machinery in the context of legal requirements, including both the Machinery Directive and the Low Voltage Directive. The current edition, SN EN 60204-1:2018, has been in force since November 2018.
The standard EN 60204-1, ‘Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines – Part 1: General requirements’, is intended for machinery suppliers and manufacturers.
Date of the initial inspection
The safety certificates referred to in Chapter 18 of EN 60204-1 must be issued by the manufacturer or the system integrator prior to handover to the operator or user.
For its part, the manufacturer can demonstrate compliance with its duty of care by means of the documented inspection.
Re-inspection
Ultimately, the risk assessment required by law provides criteria for determining the inspection interval. This is the only way to ensure that local conditions and user behaviour are adequately taken into account.
Required Partial Tests
- Verification that the electrical equipment conforms to its technical documentation
- Visual inspection
- Measurement of the continuity of the protective conductor system
- If protection against indirect contact is provided by automatic disconnection, the conditions for protection by automatic disconnection must be verified
- Measurement of insulation resistance
- Dielectric strength test
- Measurement of residual voltage
- Functional test
Compliance with Technical Documentation (Initial Commissioning)
Along with the electrical equipment of a machine, documentation must be provided that contains all necessary information for installation, operation, and maintenance. The documentation must include, among other things:
- A description of the equipment
- Requirements for the electrical supply and environmental conditions
- Schematic and circuit diagrams, as well as programming diagrams
- Instructions for testing, maintenance, and repair
- A description of the protective devices and technical protective measures
- Operating instructions and information on potential residual risks during intended use, etc.
Ideally, during installation, a check should be performed to ensure that there are no discrepancies between the documentation and the actual condition of the installed machine.
Visual Inspection
Conducting a visual inspection is a crucial step in the inspection of equipment that should not be underestimated. It can significantly influence the subsequent steps in inspecting the device. This is because anyone who overlooks defects during the visual inspection runs the risk of sustaining serious injuries during the rest of the inspection process. The following points should always be checked:
- Have any safety-related components been tampered with?
- Is the equipment being used only for its intended purpose?
- Is there an obvious risk to persons or a fire hazard?
- Have any modifications been made to the machine?
- Have environmental conditions changed?
- Is documentation available?
For particularly critical cases, thermography can also be used during visual inspections, as high thermal heating at clamping points or connectors reduces the service life and, in some cases, the electrical insulation of the components.