Pre Compliance EMC Testing

Resources  /  Pre-compliance

Precompliance EMC Testing

Assess the electromagnetic emissions and immunity of your devices in-house, and identify and fix EMC issues before full compliance testing and certification.

Precompliance testing overviews

Setups, diagrams and equipment for each of the main precompliance test types.

Conducted Emissions

Measure unwanted signals your product sends back down its power and data cables.

Setup & procedure

Conducted Immunity

Inject disturbances onto cables to prove your product rides through them.

Setup & systems

Radiated Emissions

Measure the RF energy your product radiates over the air, with limits by standard.

Setup & limits

Radiated Immunity

Expose your product to RF fields to confirm it keeps working as intended.

RF immunity overview

ESD

Electrostatic discharge test setups for pre-certification and compliance work.

ESD test setup

Not sure where to start?

Tell us your product and the standard you are targeting and we will spec the bench.

Talk to us

Why our customers test in-house

The EMC Shop works with customers from novice to regular experience, identifying the best areas to invest for future test and development while mitigating downtime and risk of failures.

Save time

Minimize trips to the test lab and avoid scheduling conflicts. Running basic measurements will prepare you for certification.

Better design

Spot checking throughout the design will help you develop a more rugged and efficient product by the end.

Global results

Compile meaningful test data and compare them with subsidiaries around the world.

  • Practice! CE Mark and other bodies allow self certification.
  • Cost savings: identify and resolve issues early, reducing costs.
  • Time efficiency: shorten time to market by addressing problems in advance.
  • Improved product quality: better reliability and reduced susceptibility to interference.
  • Reduced risk of fines: avoid non-compliance fines and recalls.

What is precompliance EMC testing?

EMC precompliance testing is a valuable step to assess the electromagnetic emissions and susceptibility of electronic devices. It helps manufacturers identify and rectify potential EMC issues before full compliance testing and certification.

EMC testing can be considered a foreign art only to be practiced by experts who are immersed in it daily — but as with many tasks, it is becoming simplified and feasible to do yourself.

Testing equipment & facilities

EMC precompliance testing does not require specialized laboratories or anechoic chambers to get meaningful data and results. There are techniques for understanding your test area and doing precompliance EMC testing with safety considered for personnel and surrounding electronics.

Depending on the compliance standards, some legacy test equipment is still viable, allowing you to produce adequate electrical transients or measure and identify failures — although it may take longer or be more challenging to perform.

EMC test standards

Depending on goals and objectives, test standards can be used as a guide to produce intended tests and evaluate the performance of your DUT. Browse them under Standards.

Will precompliance testing guarantee certification?

No — the specialized hardware required for a fully compliant EMI receiver will identify spurious emissions in the narrowest of bands that won't always be captured by a lower cost EMC spectrum analyzer. We have had a customer rent a spectrum analyzer to debug and it was unable to see the issue during the frequency sweep.

Is it hard?

Not hard, but it can be time consuming, as you will find yourself needing to make adjustments during all phases: acquiring equipment, setting it up, generating meaningful test results, and so on.

Get started

The EMC Shop supports manufacturers across many industries to order equipment and start EMC precompliance testing.

Contact form 844.423.7435