LVD ADCO
Recommendation
Adopted: February 2011
Safety of LED T8 replacement tubes and modified luminaires
Introduction:
LED T8 tubes are extensively marketed in the EU. These are intended to be replacements
for traditional T8 Fluorescent tubes either in existing luminaires or in modified luminaires.
EU Market surveillance Authorities have expressed serious concerns with both the LED
replacement tubes and with modifications carried out to existing luminaires. These concerns
are in respect to their safety and many present an unacceptable risk to consumers and
professionals.
This Recommendation is within the framework of the current Directive and as such is
intended to provide clarification for particular products. It does not represent any change in
the Directive.
Discussion:
Recent enforcement actions on the LED T8 replacement tubes by countries in the EEA have
revealed that many of these products do not comply with safety requirements, e.g. protection
against electric shock. A common failure is access to live parts e.g. with one end of the tube
inserted in the luminaire the other end presents an easily accessible electric shock hazard.
As these products are within the scope of the Directive 2006/95/EC (the Low Voltage
Directive (LVD)), these concerns were discussed at the LVD ADCO 26th Meeting on 17 &18
Nov 2010, which concluded that generally economic operators (manufacturer, importer,
distributor and retailer) are not fully aware of the safety risks relevant to the LED replacement
tubes they manufacture, import or supply. It was also recognised that guidance, in the form
of an ADCO Recommendation, would be helpful to assist the economic operators in
understanding these risks and also the actions required to meet the requirements of the LVD.
LED T8 tubes
Economic operators placing on the market LED T8 tubes which are intended as either direct
replacement in the original luminaire (retrofit type) or for use in a modified luminaire are
responsible for ensuring that these products are safe and comply with the safety
requirements of the LVD.
Modification kits and modified luminaires
For a modified luminaire, the manufacturer of the original luminaire will generally no longer
be seen as responsible for the safety of the product. Any modifications made to the original
luminaire may alter the characteristics of the original product e.g. safety aspects of the
original luminaire, and hence risk assessment of hazards posed by the original luminaire may
no longer be applicable to the modified luminaire. In this case, the modified luminaire would
be considered as a new product.
Persons placing on the market modification kits for incorporation into an existing luminaire
must ensure that the modified luminaire is safe when the kit is installed in accordance with
the instructions.
A modified product when placed on the market is likely to need to comply with the safety
requirements and conformity assessment procedures of the LVD as it would to a new
product. Therefore, the economic operator responsible for placing such product on the
market has the full responsibility for ensuring its safety and compliance with the LVD and any
other applicable Directives. He is required to carry out all of those responsibilities of an
original manufacturer including conformity assessment, drawing up of Technical
Documentation, Declaration of Conformity and affixing of CE marking.
Where a luminaire is modified to use a LED T8 tube, the luminaire must still be safe if a T8
fluorescent lamp is installed, though they do not have to function.
Harmonised Standards
Currently, there are no specific standards for LED replacement tubes. However, the
economic operators should be aware that a standardisation activity is ongoing for "double
capped retrofit LED lamps" 1.
Once the standard is published it will provide a presumption of conformity with the Directive,
(limited to its scope and the relevant requirements that are covered).
1 Provisions under consideration include:
- Safety of the LED lamp in case a wrong starter-lamp combination is used.
- Safety of the LED lamp/Luminaire with different type of control gears (EM/HF);
- Safety of the lamp in case the luminaire control gear short circuits;
- Safety of user against accidental contact with live parts.
Recommendation:
a) General
• It is important that the economic operators fully understand their responsibility with
respect to compliance requirements of these products with the LVD and its safety
objectives.
• The manufacturers, importer and distributors are responsible for ensuring that only
those products that fulfil the LVD safety objectives (i.e. products are safe) are placed
on the EEA market.
• The Directive requires that all products placed on the market meet the safety
requirements; the conformity assessment demonstrates how these requirements
have been met. A manufacturer may use harmonized standards to provide a
presumption of conformity with the LVD, however, currently there are no specific
standards for these products. Economic operators will need to use other means to
assess the safety risks. For example, the standard EN 60598-1:2008, clause 8 could
be used to form the basis of assessing risk of access to live parts.
• Thus, the Technical Documentation must contain, among others, an assessment of
the risks, a description of the technical solutions adopted, and the procedures used
for verification, providing a detailed explanation as to how the safety objectives and
requirements of the Directive have been achieved.
b) Modification of luminaires
• The person who places a modification kit on the market to modify an existing
luminaire must ensure that incorporation of the kit does not render the luminaire
unsafe. Besides providing conforming components, this might require a precise
definition of the types of luminaries suitable for conversion, clear instructions, and
procedures on how to check the modified luminaire. If the modified product is placed
on the market, it will be subject to the requirements of the LVD as though it were a
new products being placed on the market for the first time, and the conformity
assessment procedure, drawing up of relevant documentation and markings as
described in the Directive all need to be complied with.
c) Replacement tubes
• Those LED T8 replacement tubes that are intended for use as replacements in
standard fluorescent luminaires i.e. where no modification of the original luminaire is
required (retrofit type)2 must meet the applicable specifications for a standard
fluorescent tube; e.g. must not exceed the dimensions and operating parameters
related to the safety of the original fluorescent tube (e.g. weight, power, temperature
rise, electrical properties)
2 The replacement of a glow starter compliant with IEC 60155 with other devices does not constitute a modification of the
luminaire itself, however the use of such a starter needs to be safe when used in luminaires.
• Conformity assessment of the retrofit LED replacement tube and its starter
replacement must take any combination of original and replacement components into
account.
• LED tubes, which when one end of the tube is inserted into a luminaire expose a
hazard caused by direct contact with live parts (e.g. contact pins) at the other end of
the tube do not fulfil the safety objectives of the LVD.
Additional considerations:
This recommendation is made by LVD AdCo as such only the implications with
regard to the LVD are considered.
For many products other Directives (such as EMC, WEEE, RoHS, etc.) are also
applicable. Economic operators are advised to consider their obligations with regard
to the requirements of any other applicable Directive.
Con el objetivo de ahorrar energía, muchas empresas, ayuntamientos y otros grandes consumidores de electricidad decidieron cambiar los tubos fluorescentes tradicionales por tubos de LED de sustitución directa. Estudios han demostrado ahora que algunos de estos tubos LED que sustituyen a fluorescentes representan una seria amenaza para la seguridad eléctrica.
