Practical Engineering

Often overlooked during the development of appropriate spacings (creepage distances) for safety-certified products is the failure to account accurately for the material group of the components involved. This oversight can have significant implications. Let us briefly explore this issue to raise awareness among readers.

You know that feeling when a capacitor’s datasheet claims one thing, but NRTL’s online certification directory tells a different story? This blog is all about that - specifically a capacitor rated X1 and Y1, but the certification directory only showed X1. Moral of the story? Double check those certs early in the game to avoid delays.

This month's blog is pulled from the product safety playbook. It highlights a potential issue to avoid when considering an optocoupler's creepage distance when placed onto a printed circuit board (PCB).

Electricity meters and other similar devices have their own set of unique standards and requirements.

If pre-compliance activities are good for discovering EMC design weaknesses early in product development, why not apply the same thought process to product safety?

This month's blog explains X-type capacitors, which suppress emissions in switch-mode power supplies and variable drives.

Making time for even just 30 minutes of focused reading each day will keep you on the path of continuous learning.