KC Certification
- In order to enable consumers to better understand the certification marks on the purchased products and reduce the various certification costs borne by the product manufacturers, the Korea Institute of Technical Standards (KATS) announced on August 20, 2008 that it would implement the new certification system KC (Korea Certification) certification on January 1, 2009. The plan has been implemented in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy since July 2009, and is expected to be extended to all departments by the end of 2010.
- Electrical products with voltage between 50V and 1000V shall be certified. KC certification plan will force the use of KC mark on all electronic and electrical products on January 1, 2009. At that time, the new KC mark will replace the original EK mark.
- Certification scope: Korean KC certification, KCC certification, power supply KC certification, EK certification, KTL certification, adapter KC certification, Korean lithium battery.
KC certified product range
- Single cell: portable;
- Battery (Pack): single battery is manufactured by direct parallel assembly;
- The portable lithium single battery or battery with navigation function is the applicable object regardless of the energy density of each volume (used under harsh conditions inside the vehicle);
- Single batteries and batteries used for portable medical devices, bar codes, credit card readers and other products are applicable objects;
- Portable machines: MP3, electronic dictionary, PMP, notebook computer, digital camera, etc;
- Segmentation of portable products: batteries used in mobile products also belong to certification objects;
- Non-certified objects: vehicle-driven, industrial, medical or button-shaped.
Materials to be prepared for KC certification
- Application Form for safety certification;
- Product descriptions (or User’s Manuals): KoreanVersion;
- List of critical components;
- Insulation material catalogue (designated products);
- Circuit Diagram;
- Letter of authorization of agency (when applying through agency);
- Marking Label;
- Factory questionnaire;
- Detailed specification of transformer;
- Prepare samples (the number of samples depends on the product type) (Products).
Battery KC certification test items
- High Temperature Storage;
- Temperature Cycling Test;
- External Short Circuit Test;
- Crushing of Cells;
- Battery cell protection test at high charging rate; (CellProtectionAgainstaHighChargingRate)；
- Thermal Abuse Test.
KC certification process
According to the old regulations of KC, only Korean manufacturers or local agents can apply for battery KC certification. Therefore, manufacturers outside Korea must apply for battery product KCmark by local agents in Korea. According to the new KC regulations, foreign manufacturers can apply for KC certification in the following two ways:
- Apply for KC safety certification in the name of foreign manufacturer applicant (company) (the holder is a foreign manufacturer):
KC safety certificate is issued according to the factory. A factory can only be listed in one certificate. If more than one factory needs to apply for KC certification, the second factory or more will be considered as a new case, requiring retesting and issuing a new certificate. Moreover, if the name of the factory is changed, it will also be considered as a new case and the test will be arranged. A KC certificate can be used by multiple local agents at the same time (it is not necessary for a local agent to issue a certificate).
- Apply for KC safety certification in the name of the local agent applicant (company) (the holder is the local agent):
KC safety certificate shall be issued according to the local agent; Only one contemporary geographic dealer can be listed on a certificate. If the customer wants to put more than one local agent on the certificate, the second or more local agents will be considered as a change case, without testing, but must provide a set of samples for review and issue a new certificate. If the name of the factory is changed or a new factory is added, even if the holder has not changed (the local agent), it will be considered as a new case and the test will be arranged.
In addition, it should be noted that the battery KC certification can accept the CB report and certificate, and the CB report and certificate transfer can be used. Only some additional evaluation is required. Therefore, it is suggested that the majority of manufacturers can apply for CB to transfer KC certification, so that they can easily transfer to countries including South Korea for certification after applying for CB.
KC certification test standard
The battery KC certification test standard is KC62133, which is equivalent to IEC62133:2012Ed.2.
Note: Since January 2017, products with a bulk energy density of less than 400Wh/L are also classified as certification objects, and portable products are subdivided: batteries used in mobile products are also classified as certification objects, requiring structural inspection, quality documents, and air transport test reports. The old version of standard K62133 was abolished in August 2015. The K62133 certificate that has been issued is valid for five years from the date of issuance. After the validity period, it is necessary to apply for KC certification according to the new standard KC62133. The products produced after the modification of the safety standard must meet the modified safety standard. The cell report issued based on the K62133 safety standard is considered invalid when applying for KC62133 (that is, the cell test report of the old version is invalid).
KC certification time period
- The test time is 2 to 3 weeks, and the certificate is issued one week after the KC audit;
- With complete data and samples, the battery KC certification cycle is about 5 weeks.