⚡ Harmonic current emissions (equipment up to 16 A per phase) — PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2

Electronics and EMC PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2

Overview

WHAT THIS TEST IS. The standard limits the harmonic currents that equipment injects into the public supply system: it sets limits for the harmonic components of the input current that the equipment under test may produce under specified conditions. It applies to electrical and electronic equipment with a RATED input current of up to and including 16 A per phase, intended to be connected to public low-voltage distribution systems (scope from the PKN card, consistent with clause 1 of the text of the standard). Tests according to this standard are TYPE tests.

LIMITS OF THE SCOPE THAT MUST BE KNOWN BEFORE PLACING AN ORDER (clause 1 and 6.1 of the edition IEC 61000-3-2:2018): • non-professional arc welding equipment with a rated current of up to 16 A is covered by the standard; professional equipment according to IEC 60974-1 is excluded and may be subject to the installation restrictions described in IEC 61000-3-12; • the requirements and limits apply to the supply terminals of equipment for 220/380 V, 230/400 V and 240/415 V systems at 50 Hz or 60 Hz; for systems with a nominal voltage below 220 V (line-to-neutral) limits have not yet been set; • since the 2018 edition, coverage by the standard is decided by the RATED current, not by the current drawn — a change introduced for consistency with IEC 61000-3-12 (list of changes in the foreword of the 2018 edition, item l).

FOUR CLASSES — THE LIMITS DEPEND ON THE CLASS (5.1 of the 2018 edition): • class A — everything not assigned to classes B, C and D; the standard gives examples: balanced three-phase equipment, household appliances (other than classes B–D), vacuum cleaners, high-pressure cleaners, tools other than portable ones, independent phase-control dimmers, audio equipment, professional luminaires for stage and studio lighting; • class B — portable tools and non-professional arc welding equipment; • class C — lighting equipment; • class D — equipment with a power, determined according to 6.3.2, not exceeding 600 W: personal computers and their monitors, television receivers, and refrigerators and freezers with variable-speed compressor drives. WHERE AN ERROR HIDES BEHIND A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT: assigning the product to the wrong class. The measurement is then correct, but compared with someone else's limits — the report states a compliance or non-compliance that does not exist.

THREE QUANTITIES BY DEFINITION (3.10–3.12): THC — the r.m.s. value of the harmonic components of orders 2 to 40; THD — the ratio of the r.m.s. value of the sum of harmonics of orders 2–40 to the r.m.s. value of the fundamental; POHC — the r.m.s. value of the odd harmonics of orders 21–39. The range "(2 – 40) harmonicznej" [(2 – 40) harmonic], declared in three entries of the accreditation scopes, therefore corresponds to the interval of orders from the definition of THC and THD.

A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR EQUIPMENT AFTER MINOR CHANGES (6.1): permitted if in the previous full test the current emissions were below 60 % of the limits and the THD of the input current below 15 %. It consists in checking that the modified equipment has an active power within ±20 % of the power of the originally tested product and a THD below 15 %. In case of doubt, a full test according to clauses 6 and 7 decides.

RESTRICTION OF CONTROL METHODS (6.2): asymmetrical control and half-wave rectification directly from the mains may be used only if this is the only practical solution for detecting unsafe conditions, or the controlled active power does not exceed 100 W, or the equipment is portable, has a two-core flexible cord and operates for a few minutes.

EDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS (state of the PKN cards on 25.09.2026). PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019-04 — English-language version, publication 08-04-2019, 44 pages, KT 104 Electromagnetic Compatibility; it implements EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019 and IEC 61000-3-2:2018 [IDT]; it replaces PN-EN 61000-3-2:2014-10 in the English-language and Polish-language versions. The card has no "Withdrawn" header. Two amendments belong to the standard: A1:2021-08 (publication 31-08-2021, implements IEC 61000-3-2:2018/AMD1:2020) and A2:2024-12 (publication 13-12-2024, implements IEC 61000-3-2:2018/AMD2:2024). The catalogue has no Polish-language version of the edition in force — the last Polish-language version, PN-EN 61000-3-2:2014-10, was withdrawn on 08-04-2019. At the publisher the consolidated version IEC 61000-3-2:2018+AMD1:2020+AMD2:2024, edition 5.2 of 2024-03-04, with stability date 2026, is in force (IEC website, reading of 25.09.2026).

WHAT THE AMENDMENTS BROUGHT — AS FAR AS CAN BE SEEN FROM THE TABLES OF CONTENTS. The 2018 base edition has no subclauses 5.3 "External power supplies" and 6.5 "Multifunction equipment", nor clause 8 "Compliance with this document" with subclause 8.2 "Decision rules and measurement uncertainty". All three are in the table of contents of consolidated version 5.2 — so they came in with amendment A1 or A2; which one cannot be established from the tables of contents, and we do not have the content of these clauses. In practice this means one thing: a test according to the edition without the amendments and a test according to the edition with the amendments assess compliance according to different rules, which is why the full designation together with the amendments counts in the scope and in the report.

HOW ACCREDITATION SCOPES CITE THE STANDARD. Measurement of 25.09.2026 on the database of PL accreditation scopes (1310 laboratories with entries); an entry is counted once if any of its reference documents is this standard in any form of notation. Result: 42 entries at 15 laboratories. One entry usually carries several notations at once — the standard and its amendments separately, in Polish and in English: "PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019-04/A1:2021-08" (17 notations), "EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019" (17), "EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019/A1:2021" (17), "PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019-04" (16), "PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019-04/A2:2024-12" (12), "EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019/A2:2024" (10), "IEC 61000-3-2:2018/AMD2:2024" (10). A FORM THAT DOES NOT EXIST IN THE CATALOGUE: "PN-EN 61000-3-2:2019-04" without the IEC element — 6 notations, plus with the additions "/A1:2021-08" (3) and "/A2:2024-12" (2). The card of this edition has a designation with the IEC element. OLDER EDITIONS: "PN-EN 61000-3-2:2007" and "/A1:2010" and "/A2:2010" (5 notations each), "PN-EN 61000-3-2:2014-10" (4), "PN-EN 61000-3-2:2006" (1). The object of testing is most often "Urządzenia elektryczne i elektroniczne" [electrical and electronic equipment] with a list of product groups; the methodology is most often "Emisja harmonicznych prądu, fazowy prąd zasilający odbiornik ≤ 16 A" [emission of harmonic currents, equipment input current ≤ 16 A per phase] (9 entries). The same entries also contain PN-EN 61000-3-12 (harmonics of equipment with a current above 16 A — 13 notations in the 2005 and 2012 editions), PN-EN 61000-4-7 (instruments for measuring harmonics — 10 notations) and UN ECE Regulation No. 10, Annexes 11 and 17 (vehicles).

THE KEY OF THE "LABORATORIES" TAB: "PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2" — 9 laboratories and 19 entries, without any foreign entries. The tab will not show 6 laboratories (AB 022, AB 053, AB 1555, AB 167, AB 171, AB 666), which write the standard without the IEC element, with an older edition or with the EN or IEC designation alone. A key without the IEC element ("PN-EN 61000-3-2") would show only 7 laboratories.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We had an extract of the edition IEC 61000-3-2:2018 made available by the publisher: the foreword, the table of contents and clauses 1–6.2. We do not have clause 7 with the tables of limits for classes A–D, subclause 6.3 on measurement and observation time, or Annexes A–C (measurement circuit, supply source, type-test conditions for particular products). We therefore do not give any harmonic current limit or measurement time.

Method principle

The equipment is supplied from a mains of specified voltage and frequency, under the operating conditions indicated in the standard for the given type of product, and the harmonic components of its input current are measured with an instrument for measuring harmonics. The results are compared with the limits of the class to which the product belongs (A, B, C or D). THC and THD are calculated from harmonics of orders 2–40, and POHC from odd orders 21–39.

Applications

• Type tests of electrical and electronic equipment with a rated input current of up to 16 A per phase connected to the public low-voltage supply system
• Household appliances, tools, audio and television equipment, computers and monitors, refrigerators with variable-speed drives
• Lighting equipment (class C) — lamps, luminaires, control gear and dimmers other than phase-control ones
• Non-professional arc welding equipment up to 16 A (class B)
• Assessment of equipment after minor changes by the simplified method (6.1)
• In the accreditation scopes also rolling-stock equipment and vehicle electronics — next to UN ECE Regulation No. 10

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019-04 wraz ze zmianami A1:2021-08 i A2:2024-12 (wersja angielska; wprowadza EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019 [IDT], IEC 61000-3-2:2018 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Kompatybilność elektromagnetyczna (EMC) — Część 3-2: Poziomy dopuszczalne — Poziomy dopuszczalne emisji harmonicznych prądu (fazowy prąd zasilający odbiornika ≤ 16 A)

Title (EN)

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) — Part 3-2: Limits — Limits for harmonic current emissions (equipment input current ≤ 16 A per phase)

Step-by-step procedure

1. Is the product covered by the standard

   Check the rated current (≤ 16 A per phase), the type of system (public low-voltage, 220/380–240/415 V, 50 or 60 Hz) and whether the product is professional welding equipment according to IEC 60974-1.

2. Assignment of the class

   Establish class A, B, C or D according to clause 5; for class D check the power (≤ 600 W according to 6.3.2). Record the class in the report — the limits depend on it.

3. Measurement circuit and supply source

   Set up according to Annex A of the standard. WE DO NOT GIVE the details — we did not have the annex.

4. Operating conditions of the product

   The product operates under the type-test conditions indicated in the annexes of the standard for its type (incl. TV receivers, audio amplifiers, lighting equipment). WE DO NOT GIVE the details.

5. Measurement of harmonics

   Measure the harmonic components of the input current with an instrument according to IEC 61000-4-7 over the observation time specified in 6.3.4. WE DO NOT GIVE the time.

6. Comparison with the limits and assessment of compliance

   Compare the results with the limits of the class (clause 7). In the edition with the amendments the decision rules and measurement uncertainty of 8.2 apply — we do not have the content of these rules.

7. Report

   Give the full designation of the standard TOGETHER with amendments A1 and A2, the class of the product and the operating conditions — without the designation of the amendments it is not known according to which rules compliance was assessed.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Work on circuits at mains voltage — safety rules for electrical equipment, terminal covers
• The product under test operates in a mode requiring full load — check heating and ventilation of the test station
• Welding equipment and tools in motion — guarding of moving parts and of arc radiation

Frequently asked questions