IEC 60320-2-4:2018

Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes - Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement

IEC 60320-2-4:2018 is now available as IEC 60320-2-4:2018 RLV which contains the International Standard and its Redline version, showing all changes of the technical content compared to the previous edition.
IEC 60320-2-4:2018 is applicable to two-pole appliance couplers for alternating current only, with or without earthing contact, with a rated voltage not exceeding 250 V and a rated current not exceeding 16 A, for household and similar general purposes and intended for incorporation or integration within electric appliances or other electric equipment of multi‑part construction for 50 Hz or 60 Hz supply which depend on the weight of the appliance to ensure correct engagement. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2005 and Amendment 1:2009. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- IEC 60320-2-4 is aligned with IEC 60320-1:2015.
- IEC 60320-2-4 is aligned with IEC 60335-1 and IEC 60335-2-15. IEC 60320-2-4 appliance couplers are incorporated into appliances designed and manufactured to these standards. To this end, particular attention is drawn to 14.2 and Clause 20.
- It also now proposes that appliance couplers with auxiliary contacts be considered.

Connecteurs pour usages domestiques et usages généraux analogues - Partie 2-4: Connecteurs à connexion par gravité

IEC 60320-2-4:2018 est disponible sous forme de IEC 60320-2-4:2018 RLV qui contient la Norme internationale et sa version Redline, illustrant les modifications du contenu technique depuis l'édition précédente.
L’IEC 60320-2-4:2018 est applicable aux connecteurs bipolaires pour courant alternatif seulement, avec ou sans contact de mise à la terre, de tension assignée ne dépassant pas 250 V et de courant assigné ne dépassant pas 16 A, pour usages domestiques et généraux analogues, destinés à l'incorporation ou à l'intégration dans des appareils électriques d’utilisation ou dans d’autres matériels électriques réalisés par assemblage et alimentés à 50 Hz ou 60 Hz et qui dépendent du poids de l'appareil d’utilisation pour assurer un engagement correct. Cette deuxième édition annule et remplace la première édition parue en 2005 et l’Amendement 1:2009. Cette édition constitue une révision technique. Cette édition inclut les modifications techniques majeures suivantes par rapport à l'édition précédente:
- L’IEC 60320-2-4 s’aligne avec l’IEC 60320-1:2015.
- L’IEC 60320-2-4 s’aligne avec l’IEC 60335-1 et avec l’IEC 60335-2-15. Les connecteurs de l’IEC 60320-2-4 sont incorporés dans les appareils d’utilisation conçus et fabriqués pour ces normes. À cet effet, une attention particulière est apportée au 14.2 et à l’Article 20.
- Il est également désormais proposé que les connecteurs avec contacts auxiliaires soient pris en considération.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 28-Jun-2018
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 29.120.30 - Plugs, socket-outlets, couplers
• Technical Committee: SC 23G - Appliance couplers
• Drafting Committee: MT 4 - TC 23/SC 23G/MT 4
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 13-Jul-2018
• Completion Date: 29-Jun-2018

Relations

• Revises: IEC 60320-2-4:2005/AMD1:2009 - Amendment 1 - Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes - Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023
• Revises: IEC 60320-2-4:2005 - Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes - Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 60320-2-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes –
Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé [e-mail]
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Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

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IEC 60320-2-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes –

Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.120.30 ISBN 978-2-8322-5861-3

– 2 – IEC 60320-2-4:2018 RLV © IEC 2018
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references. 7
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 General requirements . 9
5 General notes on tests . 9
6 Standard ratings . 10
7 Classification . 10
8 Marking . 12
9 Dimensions and compatibility . 14
10 Protection against electric shock . 14
11 Provision for earthing . 15
12 Terminals and terminations . 15
13 Construction . 15
14 Moisture resistance . 16
15 Insulation resistance and electric strength . 18
16 Forces necessary to insert and withdraw the connector/appliance outlet . 20
17 Operation of contacts . 20
18 Resistance to heating of appliance couplers for hot conditions or very hot
conditions . 20
19 Breaking capacity . 21
20 Normal operation . 22
21 Temperature rise . 24
22 Cords and their connection . 25
23 Mechanical strength . 26
24 Resistance to heat and ageing . 26
25 Screws, current-carrying parts and connections . 27
26 Clearances, creepage distances, clearances and distances through solid
insulation . 28
27 Resistance of insulating material to heat, fire and tracking . 33
28 Resistance to rusting . 34
29 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements . 35
Annex AA (normative) Proof tracking test .
Annex BBAA (normative) Needle-flame test . 37
Annex BB (normative) Apparatus for the test of 14.102 . 38
Annex C (normative) Test schedule . 39

Figure 101 – Examples of clearances . 30
Figure BB.1 – Apparatus for the test of Subclause 14.102 . 38

Table 101 – Test voltages . 19

Table 102 – Ratings for the tests of Clause 20 . 24
Table 102103 – Rated impulse voltage . 28
Table 103104 – Minimum clearances. 29
Table 104105 – Minimum creepage distances for basic insulation . 32

– 4 – IEC 60320-2-4:2018 RLV © IEC 2018
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
APPLIANCE COUPLERS FOR HOUSEHOLD
AND SIMILAR GENERAL PURPOSES –

Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance
weight for engagement
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This redline version of the official IEC Standard allows the user to identify the changes
made to the previous edition. A vertical bar appears in the margin wherever a change
has been made. Additions are in green text, deletions are in strikethrough red text.

International Standard IEC 60320-2-4 has been prepared by subcommittee 23G: Appliance
couplers, of IEC technical committee 23: Electrical accessories.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2005 and
Amendment 1:2009. This edition constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) IEC 60320-2-4 is aligned with IEC 60320-1:2015.
b) IEC 60320-2-4 is aligned with IEC 60335-1 and IEC 60335-2-15. IEC 60320-2-4
appliance couplers are incorporated into appliances designed and manufactured to these
standards. To this end, particular attention is drawn to 14.2 and Clause 20.
c) It also now proposes that appliance couplers with auxiliary contacts be considered.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
23G/402/FDIS 23G/404/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
This Part 2-4 is to be used in conjunction with IEC 60320-1: Appliance couplers for household
and similar general purposes – Part 1: General requirements. It was established on the basis
of the third edition of that standard (2015).
The clauses of this standard supplement or modify the corresponding clauses of IEC 60320-1.
When a particular subclause or annex of Part 1 is not mentioned in this Part 2-4, the
subclause or annex of IEC 60320-1 applies without modification as far as is reasonable.
Where this standard states “addition”, “modification” or “replacement”, the relevant
requirement, test specification or explanatory matter in IEC 60320-1 should be adapted
accordingly.
Subclauses, figures or tables which are additional to those in Part 1 are numbered starting
...

IEC 60320-2-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes –
Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement

Connecteurs pour usages domestiques et usages généraux analogues –
Partie 2-4: Connecteurs à connexion par gravité

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
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Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

IEC Catalogue - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The stand-alone application for consulting the entire The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
bibliographical information on IEC International Standards, electrical terms containing 21 000 terms and definitions in
Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and other English and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional
documents. Available for PC, Mac OS, Android Tablets and languages. Also known as the International Electrotechnical
iPad. Vocabulary (IEV) online.

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The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a 67 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been
and withdrawn publications. collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and

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IEC 60320-2-4 ®
Edition 2.0 2018-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes –

Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance weight for engagement

Connecteurs pour usages domestiques et usages généraux analogues –

Partie 2-4: Connecteurs à connexion par gravité

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 29.120.30 ISBN 978-2-8322-5824-8

– 2 – IEC 60320-2-4:2018 © IEC 2018
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 General requirements . 8
5 General notes on tests . 8
6 Standard ratings . 8
7 Classification . 9
8 Marking . 10
9 Dimensions and compatibility . 11
10 Protection against electric shock . 12
11 Provision for earthing . 13
12 Terminals and terminations . 13
13 Construction . 13
14 Moisture resistance . 14
15 Insulation resistance and electric strength . 15
16 Forces necessary to insert and withdraw the connector/appliance outlet . 16
17 Operation of contacts . 17
18 Resistance to heating of appliance couplers for hot conditions or very hot
conditions . 17
19 Breaking capacity . 18
20 Normal operation . 19
21 Temperature rise . 20
22 Cords and their connection . 21
23 Mechanical strength . 21
24 Resistance to heat and ageing. 22
25 Screws, current-carrying parts and connections . 22
26 Clearances, creepage distances and solid insulation . 23
27 Resistance of insulating material to heat, fire and tracking . 29
28 Resistance to rusting . 30
29 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements . 30
Annex AA (normative) Needle-flame test . 31
Annex BB (normative) Apparatus for the test of 14.102 . 32
Annex C (normative) Test schedule . 33

Figure 101 – Examples of clearances . 26
Figure BB.1 – Apparatus for the test of Subclause 14.102 . 32

Table 101 – Test voltages . 16
Table 102 – Ratings for the tests of Clause 20 . 20

Table 103 – Rated impulse voltage . 24
Table 104 – Minimum clearances . 24
Table 105 – Minimum creepage distances for basic insulation . 28

– 4 – IEC 60320-2-4:2018 © IEC 2018
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
APPLIANCE COUPLERS FOR HOUSEHOLD
AND SIMILAR GENERAL PURPOSES –

Part 2-4: Couplers dependent on appliance
weight for engagement
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage o
...