In connection with the CE marking, an installer must comply with NEN-EN-60204 ‘Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines’.
This standard applies within the framework of the Machinery Directive. The electrical installation is almost always part of the machine, which means that the installer has to deal with the aforementioned standard. A compressor is a machine and in almost all cases it is a non-movable machine, just like, for example, a lathe.
Types of disconnectors (NEN-EN 60204-1, 5.3.2)
- Disconnector with or without fuse-links (according to EN 60947-3; utilisation category AC-23B or DC-23B)
- Disconnector with or without fuse-links according to EN 60947-3 with auxiliary contact, ensuring that switching devices always interrupt the main current first before the main contacts of the disconnector are opened.
- A power circuit-breaker according to EN 60947-2 that is suitable for isolation according to EN 60947-3.
- A plug-and-socket connection for a machine with a maximum current of 16 A and a power rating of at most 3 kW.
- A socket-outlet or appliance inlet for the supply of a portable machine via a flexible cable (think of a drum or loop suspension from crane runways) under the following conditions:
- During loading, it must not be possible to engage or disengage a socket-outlet or appliance inlet without switching capacity.
THEREFORE: A non-movable machine with a power greater than 3 kW or a current higher than 16 A may not be connected by means of a plug-and-socket connection.
For us, the following is therefore important:
- Every compressor or non-movable machine to be installed by us MUST be electrically connected with a disconnector (according to standard EN-60947-3, utilisation category AC-23).
- If the disconnector also serves as an emergency stop, it MUST be fitted with a red button on a yellow background.
- If the disconnector does not serve as an emergency stop, the operating handle should preferably be black or grey in colour.
- The disconnector must be located between 0.6 and 1.9 metres above the operating floor, near the compressor in an easily accessible place.
