Electronic products in railway vehicles

Purpose

Table 2 of EN 45545-2 lists the most common products for trains. Table 3 is for products that are not listed in Table 2 but are of a simpler design with few constituent materials or components. For more complex products such as electronic equipment consisting of a variety of materials and components, there are no clear requirements in EN 45545-2. For these products, an investigation is required to find out what needs to be tested in order for the product as a whole to be classifiable. The investigation follows the flow chart for grouping rules found in subclause 4.3 of the standard.

Each of the product's constituent materials/components must be handled in the flow chart. There are some rules to consider when it comes to the exposed surface, weight and and also distance.

A material or component weighing up to 10 g which is not in direct contact with any other material or component non-approved according to EN 45545-2 need not to be tested or grouped.

• A group is defined as materials/components that are within 200 mm in vertical direction and 20 mm in horizontal direction of each other
• Up to 100 g (interior) or 400 g (exterior) of combustibles are allowed per group with no requirements
• Up to 500 g (interior) or 2000 g (exterior) of combustibles per group are allowed which are approved according to requirement set R24 (EN ISO 4589-2)
• Combustibles in groups weighing more than 500 g (interior) or 2000 g (exterior) have to fulfil requirement set R22 (interior) eller R23 (exterior) (EN ISO 4589-2, EN ISO 5659-2, NF X 70-100-1 & -2 or EN 17084)

Above rules apply to groups but also to individual materials/components that have an exposed surface area of ​​less than 0.2 m².

An exposed surface area larger than 0.2 m² means fulfilment according to requirement set R1 (interior) or R7 (exterior) (ISO 5658-2, ISO 5660-1, EN ISO 5659-2+toxicity (EN 45545-2, annex C or EN 17084).

An alternative to the above investigation procedure is that the product meets any of the requirements as set out in 4.2 h in EN 45545-2. Here, among other options, is the opportunity to place the product in a technical cabinet that is protected by some kind of extinguishing system. Such a solution can mean that the product is approved to install without testing.

Method

An investigation means that the product is weighed and measured and then taken apart to the greatest extent possible. The constituent materials/components are weighed and, if relevant, the distance between these materials/components is measures as well as the exposed surface area.

A report describes the conditions for approval of the product and has a summary, at the end, of what is needed in terms of testing, if any, for a possible classification of the product. The product and all its constituent materials/components are photographed on a scale where the weight is visible. These photos are included in the report together with a table listing the constituent materials/components and the applicable requirements according to EN 45545-2.

Deliveries

An investigation report, in Swedish or English, is delivered.