New IEC standard increasing HC charge limit officially published

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has published the long-awaited new version of IEC 60335-2-89:2019 for self-contained commercial refrigeration cabinets, which raises the charge limit for A3 (flammable) refrigerants to 500 g from 150 g

The standard also increases the charge limit for A2 and A2L (low flammable) refrigerants to 1,200 g from 150 g.

The new standard "was published on the IEC website on 20 June, and it can be purchased from the IEC website directly,” confirmed Marek Zgliczynski, Chair of the IEC SC61c subcommittee, which was responsible for developing the standard update proposal.

Malaysia’s appeal fails

The charge-limit increase was initially rejected in April, following voting by the IEC National Committees. However, that result was reversed after a procedural error was discovered in the negative vote cast by Malaysia, which did not provide a technical justification for its vote as requited by IEC rules. The exclusion of the Malaysian vote made the overall vote a positive one, thus approving the increase in the charge limits for A3, A2 and A2l refrigerants.

The publication of the new standard on IEC’s official website confirms that an appeal made by Malaysia was not pursued.