Common use of Test Setup Clause in Contracts

Test Setup. a. Power Supply DOE proposes that section 3.1 of IES LM–79–2008 be incorporated by reference to specify requirements for both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power supplies. This section specifies that an AC power supply should have a sinusoidal voltage waveshape at the input frequency required by the LED lamp such that the root mean square (RMS) 24 summation of the harmonic components does not exceed three percent of the fundamental frequency 25 while operating the LED lamp. Section 3.2 of IES LM–79–2008 also requires that the voltage of an AC power supply (RMS voltage) or DC power supply (instantaneous voltage) applied to the LED lamp should be within ± 0.2 percent. These requirements are achievable with minimal testing burden and provide reasonable stringency in terms of power quality based on their similarity to voltage tolerance requirements for testing of other lamp types. These requirements ensure that the power supplied to the LED lamps is consistent and, in combination with other specifications, would likely result in repeatable photometric measurements. b. Lamp Mounting and Orientation DOE proposes that the LED lamp be mounted as specified in section 2.3 of IES LM–79–2008 and be positioned in the base-up, base-down, and horizontal orientations for testing. Section 2.3 of IES LM–79–2008 requires that the LED lamp should be mounted to the measuring instrument (integrating sphere or goniophotometer as described in section III.B.4.c) in such a manner that the heat flow through supporting objects does not affect the measurement results. This is important because the lumen output of LED lamps is sensitive to thermal changes. DOE’s view is that 23 ‘‘IES Approved Method for the Electrical and Photometric Measurement of Fluorescent Lamps.’’ Approved January 31, 2009. 24 Root mean square (RMS) voltage/current is a statistical measure of the magnitude of a voltage/ current signal. RMS voltage/current is equal to the square root of the mean of all squared instantaneous voltages/currents over one complete cycle of the the examples specified in section 2.3 of IES LM–79–2008 (such as suspending a ceiling-mounted LED lamp in open air and using support materials such as Teflon that have low heat conductivity instead of mounting it in close thermal contact with the sphere wall) ensure negligible cooling effects through the supporting objects of the LED lamps and minimal disturbance of the air flow around the lamp. DOE proposes that these materials, or other materials with low heat conductivity, should be used to mount the LED lamp. ▇▇▇ understands that the orientation of the lamp could affect the thermal conditions within the lamp, which may affect the light output. DOE considered testing the LED lamps as specified in section 6.0 of IES LM–79–2008, which states that the LED lamp should be tested in the operating orientation recommended by the lamp manufacturer for the intended use of the LED lamp. However, manufacturers do not typically specify the operating orientation for the LED lamp in their product literature. Further, it is possible that manufacturers would recommend an orientation for testing that provides the highest lumen output rather than the orientation in which the lamp is most frequently operated in practice. Therefore, ▇▇▇ proposes that the lamp units should be positioned such that an equal number of units are oriented in the base up, base down, and horizontal orientations each (see section III.D for the sampling requirements). This would ensure that testing is carried out in all possible 26 orientations potentially used in practice, instead of only the highest performance orientation. DOE also requires that the lamps be positioned in the same orientation throughout testing, which would include lamp seasoning (section III.B.4.a), lamp stabilization (section III.B.4.b), and input power (section III.B.3.c) and lumen output measurements (section III.B.4.c). DOE requests comment on the appropriateness of orienting lamps, in the base-up, base-down, and horizontal positions for testing, and requests data on the impact of lamp orientation on the thermal characteristics of the LED lamp, and hence, the light output.