Before your product goes to market, it must undergo testing for safety and performance. Depending on the type of product you develop and the intended market, testing will either be a regulatory requirement or an aid to help consumers understand what products will do for them and which products offer the best value. The ultimate goal of product testing is to increase consumer protection. Here are some of the top safety tests your products must pass before they achieve market access.
Ingress Protection (IP) Testing
IP testing is an international standard that determines the level of protection a product offers against the ingress of water, dust and foreign objects. Once tested, products receive a two-digit IP code (or IP rating). The first number represents the level of protection against solids. The second number represents the level of protection against liquids. The higher the number, the more protection a product offers.
Testing will vary depending on the desired rating for a product. The product is mounted or oriented in a way that simulates its intended use in the field, and water is applied by misting, dripping, jetting, pressure washing, steam cleaning or immersion. The product is also placed in an enclosed chamber and exposed to dust.
Temperature Testing
Temperature testing establishes a product’s maximum and minimum operating temperature and reduces the risk of product failure in the field by simulating possible extreme temperature conditions. To test, products are placed in a controlled climatic chamber and exposed to a variety of temperature settings, including high and low temps, rapid temp changes, temp cycles and humidity.
Pull Force Testing
Pull force testing measures the strength of a product’s connections and joints. This test is most commonly performed on products with cable assemblies and connectors. To test, the product is placed in a mechanical holder with a speed-controlled motor. The motor generates a guaranteed constant pull speed, which allows testers to gauge the maximum pull force a product can withstand without damage.
EMI/RFI Testing
Electromagnetic interference and radio-frequency interference can result in poor signal quality, loss of data or the complete dysfunction of electronic and electrical equipment. That’s why products within these categories should go through EMI/RFI testing to measure how protected they are from causing and being affected by interferences.
The guidelines for EMI/RFI testing are handled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Products are tested using a Line Impedance Stabilization Network (LISN) that establishes consistent interference.
Fire and Flammability Testing
Fire and flammability testing measures a product’s resistance to fire and its spread rate of flames. This type of testing increases customer confidence in a product, reduces the risk of damages, helps products achieve global accreditations and certifies that products meet regulatory requirements. Fire and flammability testing is performed in a controlled laboratory by a third-party certification entity.
When your product development team partners with iCONN Systems, you gain access to a team of experts who focus on all aspects of product development, including mandatory and supplementary product testing. We follow onsite and offsite standard product testing and work closely with our customers to establish specialized testing criteria. Contact us today to set up a free engineering analysis.
