UL1604 Turn-Around Time

[LynnB]

Anyone have any recent experience in how long it takes UL to run a 1604 investigation/certification?

The customer service rep quoted 20 WEEKS!!, but she also said that if we have a shorter requirement, the project planner may be able to work with us. Our company has done 1604 cert. once in the past, and it took 7 weeks.

As you may have experienced, I can't talk to a UL planner or engineer until they receive our deposit (1/2 the estimate). I can only talk to customer service, and they don't know anything, but that's another story. In the mean time I need to try to budget time for testing.

 

[Noway2]

I hate to say it, but the impression I keep getting from various sources is that UL is really going down the toilet when it comes to timely processing, customer service, and costs.

If your end customers will support it, you may be better off going through a different NRTL (nationally recognized testing lab, of which UL is the grand-daddy).

According to the person who does our regulatory work here, CSA tends to be the next choice, followed by ETL.

As I mentioned above, often it comes down to what the end customer is willign to accept. Typically the requirement is for evaluation by an NRTL, which is usually assumed to mean UL.

 

[LynnB]

Thanks, Noway2.

My limited experience shows the same. For UL60950 we are going with a CB lab, getting the IEC60950, then submitting it to UL for rubberstamping. This process is a little more expensive than going straight to UL, but should be faster, and has the added advantage that we can use a local lab for the CB report. A lab that will actually talk to us. Besides, we need the CB report anyway, for CE.

However, UL seems to be the only kid on the block when it comes to 1604.

I agree that other NRTLs are typically faster, cheaper, and easier to deal with, but our big brother (partner) requires UL for marketing purposes.