My experience with the EN60335-1 compliance standard in the power adapter industry

As a sales engineer with over 12 years of experience in the power adapter industry, I have encountered many customers from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Australia, and Malaysia who are looking for ac/dc power adapters with EN60335-1 compliance certification.

When I first entered the power adapter industry, our senior engineers trained me: there is no such standard as EN60335-1 for power adapters. So initially, when customers asked if I could provide adapters certified with EN60335-1, my usual response was:
1) Sorry, power adapters do not have EN60335-1 certification.
2) Power adapters do not need EN60335-1 certification.

In my first year working in the power adapter industry, due to my lack of experience, my answers were extremely unprofessional. I never even considered why customers were still looking for adapters based on the EN60335-1 standard, even though the industry standard for power adapters clearly doesn’t exist. As a result, my unprofessional responses misled many customers and caused me to miss some business opportunities. This is my true experience from my first year in the power adapter industry.

Later, I persisted in learning and accumulated a lot of industry knowledge. Gradually, I learned how to understand the real needs of customers and help them solve problems.

I started to think from the customer’s perspective: my customers don’t manufacture adapters; their expertise and energy are focused on their own products and industry, so it’s completely understandable that they don’t have a comprehensive understanding of power adapter certification standards. What they really need is for their products to obtain EN60335-1 compliance certification. Only after reflecting from the customer’s point of view did I realize this.

I changed my communication style. Whenever a customer asks about adapters conforming To the EN60335-1 standard, I explain it like this:

Regarding your question on EN60335-1, here is a key clarification to assist your engineering team:
EN60335-1 is a safety standard for the final HOME APPLIANCE (e.g., air purifiers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, etc.), not for the power adapter itself.
The power adapter, as a critical component, must be certified under its own specific component standard: IEC/EN 61558.
To put it simply: Using an IEC/EN 61558 certified power adapter is a fundamental requirement for your appliance to achieve the overall EN60335-1 certification.
Furthermore, adapters certified to IEC/EN 61558 (must have 2 x Y1 capacitors) are specifically engineered to meet the strict leakage current and EMI requirements essential for safe integration into home appliances.
We have a range of adapters already certified to IEC/EN 61558. We are ready to share specific models and technical data once your team’s final specification is prepared.

This kind of communication not only improved my work efficiency, but more importantly, it helped many clients. On this easily confused compliance certification standard, many purchasing managers, product managers, and engineers waste a lot of time searching for products that don’t even exist, even delaying project progress.

Next, let’s analyze the two standards, EN60335-1 and EN61558 Power Adpaters

1. EN 60335-1: What product standard is it? What does it regulate?
Definition: This is a general safety standard for household and similar electrical appliances. It regulates the overall safety of the “finished appliance” (such as a coffee maker, oven, air fryer, vacuum cleaner, etc.), not accessories.
Core: It specifies the safety requirements for finished appliances in terms of protection against electric shock, fire resistance, and mechanical strength. It’s a standard that the entire product must meet, not for “external accessories” like power adapters.

2. EN 61558: What product standard does it cover?
Definition: This is a safety standard for power transformers and power adapters. It governs the safety of the “power adapter itself,” including insulation, withstand voltage, temperature rise, and short-circuit protection. It’s the adapter’s “exclusive compliance ID card.”
Core: If your power adapter passes EN 61558 certification, it meets the safety requirements of EN 60335-1 for external power accessories. The adapter does not need to pass EN 60335-1 separately.

Why do customers have this misunderstanding adapter with the EN60335-1 ? (Analysis from the customer’s perspective)

Reason 1: Terminology confusion. Customers, whose products need to comply with EN 60335-1, subconsciously assume “all components must meet this standard,” failing to realize that adapters have their own standard system.

Reason 2: Information gap. Purchasing/product managers are not experts in the power supply field; upon receiving the certification list and seeing EN 60335-1, they simply copy and paste it to their suppliers.

Finally, let’s talk about customers in different countries and regions. If the end product needs to obtain EN60335-1 certification for household appliances, the corresponding certification standard list for the adapter is as follows:

Note: The situation in the United States, Canada, and South Korea is different; it is not the 61558 standard. The United States/Canada uses UL 1310, while South Korea uses a unified standard, 62368.

DILITHINK | Power Supply Solutions

Our product compliance certifications include the following main categories:

1). IEC/EN60601-1 & EMC60601-1-2 – Medical Power Adapters
Low leakage current (<100μA), 2xMOPP insulation.
Mainly used for: vital signs monitors, ventilators, patient monitors, infusion pumps, ultrasound machines, ECG machines, defibrillators, and other medical device power supply.

2). IEC/EN62368 – IT, Networking & Audio/Video Power Adapters
Especially for network set-top boxes and signal boxes.
Surge protection standard: 6000V+

3). IEC/EN61558 – Household Appliance Power Adapters
Must be equipped with 2 x Y1 capacitors.

4.) IEC/EN61347 – Lighting/Luminaire Power Adapters
Power factor (PF) requirements are mandatory — typically PF > 0.7 or > 0.9 depending on output power and specific product standards.

Our power adapters range from 6W to 1400W. Feel free to ask us about our products or any compliance-related questions. Please note that compliance standards are not fixed — they may be updated or upgraded over time.