Intrinsically Safe

[zap]

Curious, can Intrinsically Safe XPR's be obtained in the US? I know Tait has several IS rated portables but curious as the Motorola Solutions page says only avialable in Canada.

 

[clbsquared]

I'm pretty sure they can be obtained. My local dealer just dropped a couple of them off the other day for me to demo. However, they may only be available for Public Safety or Government use only.

 

[foxtrotdelta]

Directly from their website (for the XPR7550 but also for the XPR7550e and others):

Certified as intrinsically safe by FM approvals when purchased and equipped with an FM battery for use in hazardous environments.

The blue CSA models are only available in Canada.

 

[zap]

I see why now. I was under the impression that the new UL standards required blue cases but that appears to be CSA.

 

[FMTRU140D]

Intrinsically Safe is gone in the US.

The new standard is UL TIA4950. The required battery is NNTN8560. As usual, the radio must be ordered with this battery in order to meet the standard.

I deal with this on a regular basis at work. We have a customer in the fertilizer manufacturing business and they are very careful what they buy.

Keep in mind that any radio that was manufactured until January 1, 2016 and was rated Intrinsically Safe with a FM battery (Factory Mutual rating)continues to be considered safe at the present time as long as it is used with a IS rated battery.

 

[triptolemus]

Intrinsically Safe is gone in the US.

The new standard is UL TIA4950. The required battery is NNTN8560. As usual, the radio must be ordered with this battery in order to meet the standard.

I deal with this on a regular basis at work. We have a customer in the fertilizer manufacturing business and they are very careful what they buy.

Keep in mind that any radio that was manufactured until January 1, 2016 and was rated Intrinsically Safe with a FM battery (Factory Mutual rating)continues to be considered safe at the present time as long as it is used with a IS rated battery.

Intrinsically Safe is most certainly not gone in the US. IS is a term which describes a condition achieved by application of and certification under either the new UL standard or the older (and still existing) FM standard.

Motorola has chosen to certify their gear IS in alignment with the UL standard.

The two standards are not interchangeable from a regulatory standpoint. As a practical matter, of course, they will function together just fine. An FM IS battery used with a UL IS radio would be out of compliance, in other words. This will present a new problem down the road when users attempt to procure replacement IS batteries for their FM-certified radios.

 

[that guy]

An FM IS battery used with a UL IS radio would be out of compliance, in other words. This will present a new problem down the road when users attempt to procure replacement IS batteries for their FM-certified radios.

Big M has committed to continuing to produce FM batteries until 2022 alongside the new UL versions. Also, the next firmware update for APX will identify battery incompatibility with audible and visual signals if the user doesn't check for the presence of a matching green or white dot when attaching a battery.

 

[triptolemus]

Thanks for that. I understood that the production was extended, but didn't realize it was quite that long.

 

[FMTRU140D]

My apologies for not making it clear that Intrinsically safe is still a good standard.

I should have said that you could no longer buy a FM rated radio after Jan 1 2016, at least from Motorola.

I should also mention that our customer uses XPR7350's.

 

[pboyd04]

Also, the next firmware update for APX will identify battery incompatibility with audible and visual signals if the user doesn't check for the presence of a matching green or white dot when attaching a battery.

My Gen 2 XPR already has this with the "Radio Certification Type" field in CPS. Glad to see that APX is doing the same.