IEC 60384-26:2018

Overview

IEC 60384-26:2018 is the sectional specification for fixed aluminium electrolytic capacitors with conductive polymer solid electrolyte intended primarily for d.c. applications in electronic equipment. This IEC standard defines preferred ratings and characteristics, prescribes quality assessment and test procedures (selected from IEC 60384-1), and sets general performance requirements. Edition 2.0 (2018) reorganizes content per ISO/IEC Directives and includes the April 2020 corrigendum.

Key topics and technical requirements

The standard focuses on component-level requirements and test methodologies for conductive-polymer aluminium electrolytic capacitors, including:

• Preferred ratings and characteristics
  • Nominal capacitance, tolerance, rated voltage, category voltage, surge voltage and rated temperature.
• Electrical parameters and measurements
  • Capacitance, leakage current, tangent of loss angle (tan δ) and equivalent series resistance (ESR).
• Mechanical and environmental tests
  • Robustness of terminations, resistance to soldering heat, solderability, vibration, shock and bump.
• Climatic and lifecycle tests
  • Rapid temperature change, climatic sequence (dry heat, damp heat cyclic Test Db, cold), damp heat steady state, endurance, surge and reverse voltage tests.
• Quality assessment and production controls
  • Primary manufacture checks, certified test records of released lots, qualification approval procedures, fixed sample size sampling and quality conformance inspection schedules.
• Marking and documentation
  • Required marking on components and packaging, and information to be included in detail specifications.
• Compliance constraint
  • Detail specifications referencing this sectional specification must specify test severities equal to or higher than those in IEC 60384-26 (lower performance levels are not permitted).

Practical applications and who uses it

IEC 60384-26 is essential for:

• Capacitor manufacturers - to specify product ratings, testing regimes and to demonstrate conformity.
• Design and power electronics engineers - to select conductive polymer aluminium electrolytic capacitors with predictable ESR, lifetime and thermal behaviour for d.c. power supplies, filtering and decoupling.
• Test laboratories and QA teams - to implement standardized electrical, mechanical and climatic tests.
• Procurement and compliance officers - to define purchasing specifications and ensure components meet international requirements.

Keywords: IEC 60384-26, aluminium electrolytic capacitors with conductive polymer, fixed capacitors, solid electrolyte, ESR, capacitance, test procedures, quality assessment, solderability, endurance.

Related standards

• IEC 60384-1 - General definitions, test and measuring methods for fixed capacitors.
• IEC 60384-4 - Fixed aluminium electrolytic capacitors with MnO2 (solid) electrolyte.
• IEC 60384-25 - Fixed aluminium electrolytic surface-mount capacitors with conductive polymer solid electrolyte.