Electronics > Mechanical & Automation Engineering

Machinery requirements for US market

(1/2) > >>

V_King:
Hello,

I know it is a long shot, but I will try!

My boss wants me to look into possibility of selling one of our products into US/Canada market. It is a simple machine with one 2.2kW motor<->VFD<-modbus-> small controller.
As a lot of things into USA, price is very important to make it viable, so I need to look into cost savings. Is there a some sort of easy to read handbook into regulations (if there are any) for US market, for machinery, to be used in small commercial and domestic'ish environments. For example, are EMC filters necessary? Are there minimum IEC* motor efficiency requirements? Anything else a must have? I started with looking at what current offering is and first impressions are a bit like wild west. Do whatever you want as long as you don't get sued? It is a very low volume and very specialised product so I don't expect it to sell in large volumes anyways. And none of the UK reps I have spoken so far know anything about application for machinery across the pond.

I have just started looking into it, but being in UK, everything is point into UK and EU, when searching on google. Might have to pretend somehow I am in USA to get more relevant information.

andy3055:
You may have to look in to UL standards (https://www.google.com/search?q=UL+standards+for+electrical+mechinery&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS769US769&oq=UL+standards+for+electrical+mechinery&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30.15328j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

and also, OSHA standards (https://www.google.com/search?q=OSHA+standards+for+electrical+machinery&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS769US769&oq=OSHA+standards+for+electrical+machinery&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30l2.17648j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

There may be others. Try contacting a US trade office-may be a part of the US embassy in the UK.

bdunham7:

--- Quote from: V_King on February 22, 2022, 06:24:43 pm ---My boss wants me to look into possibility of selling one of our products into US/Canada market. It is a simple machine with one 2.2kW motor<->VFD<-modbus-> small controller.

--- End quote ---

Without knowing what it actually is, it is hard to tell you where to start.  Maybe here:  https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws--Standards

Right off the bat I can tell you that a 2.2kW motor means it cannot be used with standard US wall sockets.  As far as cost sensitivity, don't assume the US market is homogenous. 

TimFox:
Do you anticipate powering it from 208 V, 60 Hz, 3-phase or 240 V single phase (center neutral)?  As stated above, 120 V, 20 A single-phase is difficult (not impossible) in US.

WattsThat:
Yes, electrically, the US is the Wild, Wild West.

As stated, 2.2KW is not practical with our standard 15 amp 120V 1ph wall socket power. 20 amp devices  require a special plug on the machine and a matching receptacle, type Nema 5-20P.

Industrially, 208V 3ph is not common, only in the New York metro area. Overall the states, 460-480v 3ph is the standard for machinery. 220-240v single phase is available but not common as it usually requires a transformer in 460/480 facilities.

For the industrial market, not residential:

There are no motor efficiency requirements when controlled with a vfd. Motor salespeople will state  otherwise but the Dept of Energy requirements are for direct-across-line motors only.

No EMC requirements here for industrial settings but CE 2nd environment filters are good to include if you can.

UL listing of the machine is not required but a control panel mounted on the machine may be required to meet the UL 508 standard, depending upon were the machine is installed. In large cities, for example, New York, Chicago (actually, all of County County) and Los Angles are examples of where you may not be able to get a permit for an electrical connection without a UL label on the machine. It depends on many factors but know that if your machine can meet the CE/EN machinery and low voltage directives, it should meet UL requirements when UL listed components are used. In those specific markets, you’ll need a licensed shop in US to create a UL file for the device and place the required label UL on the electrical panel.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page