Need Help to Find the Appropriate Documention that Defines the Safety Rating

The equipment manufacturer can, and the quickest way of doing so is via the telephone.

A copy of the relevant certification should have arrived with the equipment upon delivery. The serial number will lead the manufacturer straight to it.

Good luck.

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Mr. Slack has given you good advice.

If that approach does not work out, check and see which certification body certified the equipment (look for a certification label or monogram) and contact the certifier. A file or control number found on the label will allow the certifier to provide you the information you need.

If it is self-contained, it won't be "intrinsically safe", as this category only applies to installations where the power source is in the safe area and a barrier is installed to prevent incendive levels of juice being present in the hazardous area.

If it is built like a brick ...-house then it might be explosion-proof, but I can't see it.

It can't be "increased safety" as this only usually applies to junction boxes.

It can't be purge-pressurised, as this would involve fans pushing air in from the safe area.

Which leaves you with non-incendive, powder filled, oil filled, or specials.

I've had a squint at the manual and it doesn't say anything about hazardous area certification, so if I were you, then I'd stop using it in the hazardous area, pick up the phone, and talk to the equipment manufacturer, Mildred. Then, I'm funny that way.

The manufacturer is Olympus. The user manual gives a rating of safe operation in class 1 div 2 group d defined in nfpa 70 article 500. That article then references ISA-12.12.01-2004. The test method used to evaluate the safe operation in class 1 div 2 group D is MIL-STD 810F METHOD 511.4 Procedure I. When i called Olympus for the certification information they i was only able to speak with a fella that was obviously overwhelmed and had no idea it was even lab tested.

The enclosure rating of Ingress protection is IP66 according to IEC-60529-2004. From what i can tell it has a sealed enclosure designed to be Dust tight sealed. The battery has a safe operation membrane. The battery is double lock with threaded screws. And all connection are sealed as well as the battery. The older model flaw detectors would make a gnarly spark is you disconnected the transducer and purposely dug the cable center conductor in the metal housing. This new equipment can still pruduce a spark but according to the paperwork ive researched this spark of such low voltage that you could be in a confined space with a release of jet fuel that has concentrated and the "cold spark" wouldstill not be able to ignite the fuel-air mixture because the spark isnt 1. A constant arch and 2. The internal circuits is non-incindive due to the system being in reduced power mode. The internal circuitry resists power until the electrical system and cable is fully screwed into the transducer then the system performs a self check for 5 seconds before increasing the voltage. According to the paperwork the voltage min-max is 100v-400v as defined by IEC to be low voltage. We've been using Hot Work Permits in all classifiedareas the same as if we doing open flame high risk tasks. All classified areas have engineering controls in place in the form of air movering exhaust fans, high level gas alarms, infared cameras that detect flash ignitions, pre-job atmospheric testing by 4 gas monitors and continuous atmosphere testing during the UT inspection.

NFPA defines class 2 Div 2 areas to be areas with no present hazardous conditions and would only become hazardous in the event of an abnormal process condition like a gas release from process piping failure. The inspection is considered low risk because in order for a hazardous condition with any chance of ignition you would need all engineering safety systems like exhaust fans and high level monitor alarms to fail at the same time a process system was failing to cause a release of flammable gas and that gas would need to concentrate while an inspector disconnected the transducer from the cable while the machine was "live" and in such a way that the cable center conductor made contact with the metal housing in such a way that a "cold spark" was generated. 4 gas monitor would need to also fail before the monitor detected the raise of flammable gas vapor hit the minimum allowable LEL% needed to trigger the monitor alarm.

Seems id have a much higher chance of getting pregnant then I would ever have of producing a souce of ignition in the classified area.

The equipment has few markings of importance and the referenced standards say that small portable/transportable electronic equipment will not necessarily need to be marked due to the fast pace of advances in technology blah blah blah.

If i could find definitive information listing this equipment to be proved as suitable for low risk task inspection in class 1 div 2 group D hazard areas, the client will likely approve of using this equipment on a non-hazardous unit work permit so long as our technicians were certified level II inspectors having received training and signed documention agreeing to only use t to use the 600 flaw detector in normal operation conditions (turnin it off before they connect/disconnect) cables and transducers, tag the scope with the hazard classification and perform our own atmospheric monitoring). Phewww. Going to go ice my thumbs now...

As it isn't certified, the only way you could use it this side of the Atlantic is in Zone 2 with a hot work permit and all the palaver that entails.

This is my stop, so I'm getting off now. Cheerio!

The instruments I use are labeled, like this:

I would expect the manufacturer to supply a certification sheet, on request. Have you 'escalated' the issue with customer service/tech support?

Clearly not.

OK. Right off, there is no standard called 'safe operation' in your intended use, ie in a clearly defined hazardous area (Class1 Div2)....... that is sales pitch only.

Class1 Div2 describes an area where the likelihood (eg due to process leaks etc..) of a flammable atmosphere being present, occurs for <10hrs/year

Group 'D' refers to a group of flammable materials including propane; petrol; LPG; hexane and toluene (this is from memory only, and so is not a closed list)

If the equipment was Intrinsically Safe, it would state so on the equipt (I.S.), as well as in an independent certificate, by the Testing Authority. It means that should a fault occur within the equipment, the energy release will be insuffient to ignite a surrounding hazardous atmosphere. Available in single or double fault types, and ditinguished by I.S(b) and I.S(a).

Explosion proof is always labelled /marked on the equipment as well as designation Ex(d)..where 'Ex' denotes' protected', and the 'd' denotes "explosion proof". Once again, this denotes only that the equipment is constructed sufficienly well, that an explosion occurring within it, will be contained, and not ignite a surrounding hazardous atmosphere. So you will know if it is Ex(d) due to an extemely and seemingly uneccesarily robust construction, and a very hefty price tag to begin with, and then you will find the Ex(d) marking somewher on the casing. 'Explosion' is a bit extreme, and in some parts of the world, the word 'Flameproof' has been adopted..it is also more accurate. I don't know the contents of NFPA 70, but there is reference to a document called NEC 500 in the literature, which may assist you further....

I checked out the Olympus literature and they confirm several times over in various documents, what you have reported. Unfortunately they do not list the rating laboratory, so that is a very questionable rating. Manufacturers ALWAYS give the rating lab when they've paid the gross dollars to have it done. I would not use this beasty in a hazardous atmosphere.

Ihad a look at the unit on their site...apaprt from them stating that it is suitable for use in Explosive atmospheres, there is no mention of testing & certification to back that up.

I am on solid ground when I advise you that the machine is not suitable for use in hazardous areas. Their statements are only sales-pitch (to be ignored) or plain BS (to be boycotted). I coulodn't tell where the units are manufactured, but I suggest you request a UL certificate from Olympus.