IEC 62873-3-2:2020
(Main)Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use - Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices with flat quick-connect terminations
Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use - Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices with flat quick-connect terminations
IEC 62873-3-2:2020 applies to devices equipped with flat quick-connect terminations consisting of a male tab with nominal width 6,3 mm and thickness 0,8 mm, to be used with a mating female connector for connecting electrical copper conductors according to the manufacturer's instructions, for rated currents up to and including 16 A. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2016. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- Modification of the scope to address other devices in addition to RCDs;
- Modification of 8.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in addition to those for RCDs;
- Modification of 9.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in addition to those for RCDs.
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IEC 62873-3-2 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices with flat quick-connect
terminations
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.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
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 corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.
IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical containing more than 22 000 terminological entries in English
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional languages.
and withdrawn publications. Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
(IEV) online.
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need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
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IEC 62873-3-2 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices with flat quick-connect
terminations
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.120.50 ISBN 978-2-8322-9026-2
– 2 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Classification . 7
5 Characteristics of products . 7
6 Marking and other product information . 7
7 Standard conditions for operation in service and for installation . 7
8 Requirements for construction and operation . 8
8.1 General . 8
8.2 Terminals for external conductors . 8
9 Tests . 12
9.1 General . 12
9.2 Mechanical overload force . 12
9.3 Additional requirements for temperature rise . 12
Bibliography . 13
Figure 1 – Dimensions of male tabs . 9
Figure 2 – Dimensions of round dimple detents (see Figure 1) . 10
Figure 3 – Dimensions of rectangular dimple detents (see Figure 1) . 10
Figure 4 – Dimensions of hole detents . 11
Figure 5 – Dimensions of female connectors . 11
Figure 6 – Example of position of the thermocouple for measurement of the
temperature rise . 12
Table 1 – Colour code of female connectors in relationship with the cross-section of
the conductor . 7
Table 2 – Dimensions of tabs . 8
Table 3 – Dimensions of female connectors . 11
Table 4 – Retention force . 12
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
RESIDUAL CURRENT OPERATED CIRCUIT-BREAKERS
FOR HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR USE –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices
with flat quick-connect terminations
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 or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
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.
International Standard IEC 62873-3-2 has been prepared by subcommittee 23E: Circuit
breakers and similar equipment for household use, of IEC technical committee 23: Electrical
accessories.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2016. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) Modification of the scope to address other devices in addition to RCDs;
b) Modification of 8.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in
addition to those for RCDs;
c) Modification of 9.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in
addition to those for RCDs.
– 4 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 © IEC 2020
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
23E/1195/FDIS 23E/1201/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 is intended to be referred to by a product standard of subcommittee IEC SC23E
(e.g. from the IEC 61008 series, IEC 61009 series, IEC 62606, and IEC 63052).
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of the IEC 62873 series, published under the general title Residual current
operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
INTRODUCTION
This document is part of the series described in the outline document IEC 62873-1.
– 6 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 © IEC 2020
RESIDUAL CURRENT OPERATED CIRCUIT-BREAKERS
FOR HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR USE –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for devices
with flat quick-connect terminations
1 Scope
This document applies to devices equipped with flat quick-connect terminations consisting of a
male tab with nominal width 6,3 mm and thickness 0,8 mm, to be used with a mating female
connector for connecting electrical copper conductors according to the manufacturer's
instructions, for rated currents up to and including 16 A.
NOTE The use of flat quick-connect terminations for rated currents up to and including 20 A is accepted in BE, FR,
IT, ES, PT and US.
This document cannot be used alone but is intended to be applied together with the applicable
product standard in which it is referred to.
The connectable electrical copper conductors are flexible, having a cross-sectional area up to
and including 4 mm , or rigid-stranded, having a cross-sectional area up to and including
2,5 mm (AWG equal to or greater than 12).
This document applies exclusively to products having male tabs as an integral part of the
device.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 62873-2, Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use – Part 2:
Residual current devices (RCDs) – Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 62873-2 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
flat quick-connect termination
electrical connection consisting of a male tab (3.2) and a female connector (3.3) which can be
pushed into and withdrawn with or without the use of a too
...
IEC 62873-3-2 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-11
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for RCDs devices with flat quick-connect
terminations
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.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
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 corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.
IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical containing more than 22 000 terminological entries in English
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional languages.
and withdrawn publications. Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
(IEV) online.
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary
details all new publications released. Available online and 67 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and
once a month by email. French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of
IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or CISPR.
need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: sales@iec.ch.
IEC 62873-3-2 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-11
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Residual current operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for RCDs devices with flat quick-connect
terminations
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.120.50 ISBN 978-2-8322-9115-3
– 2 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 RLV © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 2
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Classification . 7
5 Characteristics of RCDs products . 7
6 Marking and other product information . 7
7 Standard conditions for operation in service and for installation . 8
8 Requirements for construction and operation . 8
8.1 General . 8
8.2 Terminals for external conductors . 8
9 Tests . 16
9.1 General . 16
9.2 Mechanical overload force . 16
9.3 Additional requirements for temperature rise . 16
Bibliography . 18
Figure 1 – Dimensions of male tabs . 11
Figure 2 – Dimensions of round dimple detents (see Figure 1) . 12
Figure 3 – Dimensions of rectangular dimple detents (see Figure 1) . 13
Figure 4 – Dimensions of hole detents . 14
Figure 5 – Dimensions of female connectors . 15
Figure 6 – Example of position of the thermocouple for measurement of the
temperature rise . 17
Table 1 – Colour code of female connectors in relationship with the cross-section of
the conductor . 8
Table 2 – Dimensions of tabs . 9
Table 3 – Dimensions of female connectors . 16
Table 4 – Overload test forces Retention force . 16
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
RESIDUAL CURRENT OPERATED CIRCUIT-BREAKERS
FOR HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR USE –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for RCDs devices
with flat quick-connect terminations
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 or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
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.
– 4 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 RLV © IEC 2020
International Standard IEC 62873-3-2 has been prepared by subcommittee 23E: Circuit
breakers and similar equipment for household use, of IEC technical committee 23: Electrical
accessories.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2016. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) Modification of the scope to address other devices in addition to RCDs;
b) Modification of 8.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in
addition to those for RCDs;
c) Modification of 9.1 so that IEC 62873-3-2 can be referred to by other product standards in
addition to those for RCDs.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
23E/1195/FDIS 23E/1201/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 is intended to be referred to by a product standard of subcommittee IEC SC23E
(e.g. from the IEC 61008 series, IEC 61009 series, IEC 62606, and IEC 63052).
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of the IEC 62873 series, published under the general title Residual current
operated circuit-breakers for household and similar use, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.
INTRODUCTION
This document is part of the series described in the outline document IEC 62873-1.
– 6 – IEC 62873-3-2:2020 RLV © IEC 2020
RESIDUAL CURRENT OPERATED CIRCUIT-BREAKERS
FOR HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR USE –
Part 3-2: Particular requirements for RCDs devices
with flat quick-connect terminations
1 Scope
This document applies to RCDs devices equipped with flat quick-connect terminations
consisting of a male tab (see 3.2) with nominal width 6,3 mm and thickness 0,8 mm, to be used
with a mating female connector for connecting electrical copper conductors according to the
manufacturer's instructions, for rated currents up to and including 16 A.
NOTE The use of RCDS with flat quick-connect terminations for rated currents up to and including 20 A is accepted
in BE, FR, IT, ES, PT and US.
This document cannot be used alone but is intended to be applied together with an RCD product
standard (IEC 61008-1 or IEC 61009-1) if an RCD is equipped with flat quick-connect
terminations the applicable product standard in which it is referred to.
The connectable electrical copper conductors are flexible, having a cross-sectional area up to
and including 4 mm , or rigid-stranded, having a cross-sectional area up to and including
2,5 mm (AWG equal to or greater than 12).
This document applies exclusively to RCDs products having male tabs as an integral part of the
device.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (inc
...
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