AS 60311—1999

IEC 60311:1997

Australian Standard™
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Electric irons for household or similar

use—Methods for measuring
performance
 This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee EL/15, Quality and Performance of
Household Electrical Appliances. It was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards
Australia on 28 June 1999 and published on 5 September 1999.

The following interests are represented on Committee EL/15:

Australian Association of Certification Bodies
Australian Consumers Association
Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association
Australian Retailers Association
Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association, Australia
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Department of Energy, N.S.W.

Department of Mines and Energy, Qld
Electrical Compliance Testing Association
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority of New Zealand
Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia
National Appliance and Equipment Energy Efficiency Committee, Australia
New Zealand Manufacturers Federation
Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector, Vic.
Office of Energy Policy South Australia
Testing interests

Review of Australian Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Australian Standards are subject to
periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new editions as necessary. It is important
therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edition, and any amendments
thereto.
Full details of all Australian Standards and related publications will be found in the Standards Australia
Catalogue of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazine ‘The Australian
Standard’, which subscribing members receive, and which gives details of new publications, new editions and
amendments, and of withdrawn Standards.
Suggestions for improvements to Australian Standards, addressed to the head office of Standards Australia, are
welcomed. Notification of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in an Australian Standard should be made without
delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken.

This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 97454.

 AS 60311—1999

Australian Standard™
This is a free 7 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

Electric irons for household or similar

use—Methods for measuring
performance

Originated as AS 1805—1975.
Revised and redesignated AS 60311—1999.

Published by Standards Australia

(Standards Association of Australia)
1 The Crescent, Homebush NSW 2140
ISBN 0 7337 2856 1
 ii

PREFACE

This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand
Committee EL/15, Quality and Performance of Household Electrical Appliances, and is the
result of a consensus among the representatives on the Joint Committee that it be produced as an
Australian Standard.
This Standard is identical to IEC 60311:1997, Electric irons for household or similar use—
Methods for measuring performance. (IEC 60311:1997 is a consolidation of the third edition of
IEC 60311 published in 1995, and its Amendment 1 (1997). IEC 60311:1997 bears the edition
number 3.1.) This Standard has been reproduced from IEC 60311:1997 and varied as indicated
to take account of Australian conditions.
Variations to IEC 60311:1997 are indicated at the appropriate places throughout this Standard.
Strikethrough (example) identifies IEC tables, figures and passages of text which, for the
purposes of this Australian Standard, are deleted. Where Australian tables, figures or passages
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of text are added, each is set in its proper place and identified by shading (example). Added
figures are not themselves shaded, but are identified by a shaded border.
Those parts of IEC 60311:1997 affected by IEC 60311:1997 Amendment 2:1999-02 are
identified by a vertical line in the right-hand margin.
A reference to an International Standard identified in the Normative References Clause by
strikethrough (example) is replaced by a reference to the Australian or Australian/New Zealand
Standard(s) listed immediately thereafter and identified by shading (example). Where the
struck-through referenced document and the referenced Australian or Australian/New Zealand
Standard are identical, this is indicated in parenthesis after the title of the latter.
In January 1997, the IEC commenced numbering its Standards from 60000 by adding 60000 to
the number of each existing Standard. This coordinates IEC numbering with ISO numbering.
During the transition period an IEC Standard might be identified by its new number or its old
number (for example, IEC 60050 or IEC 50).
As this Standard is reproduced from an International Standard, the following applies:
(a) Its number does not appear on each page of text and its identity is shown only on the
cover and title page.
(b) In the source text ‘this standard’ should read ‘this Australian Standard’.
(c) A full point should be substituted for a comma when referring to a decimal marker.
The terms ‘normative’ and ‘informative’ have been used in this Standard to define the
application of the annex to which they apply. A normative annex is an integral part of a
Standard, whereas an informative annex is only for information and guidance.

© Copyright – STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Users of Standards are reminded that copyright subsists in all Standards Au stralia publications and software. Except where the
Copyright Act allows and except where provided for below no publications or software produced by Standards Australia may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from
Standards Australia. Permission may be conditional on an appropriate royalty payment. Requests for permission and information
on commercial software royalties should be directed to the head office of Standards Australia.
Standards Australia will permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use exclusively
in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Australia.
Standards Australia will also permit the inclusion of its copyright material in computer software programs for no royalty
payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs.
Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current edition of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the
Standard is amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identified.
The use of material in print form or in computer software programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in
commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be varied by Standards Australia at any time.
 iii

CONTENTS

Page

1 Scope and object ......................................................................................................1

2 Normative references ................................................................................................1

3 Terms and definitions ................................................................................................2

4 List of measurements ................................................................................................3

4.1 Measurements for all kinds of irons..................................................................3
4.2 Measurements for thermostatic irons ...............................................................4
4.3 Measurements for spray irons .........................................................................4
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4.4 Measurements for steam irons under steaming operation ...................................4

4.5 Table of measurements for various types of irons..............................................4
4.6 Order of measurements ..................................................................................5
5 General conditions for measurements .........................................................................5
5.1 Ambient conditions.........................................................................................5
5.2 Temperature measurement .............................................................................6
5.3 Steady conditions ..........................................................................................6
5.4 Voltage for measurements ..............................................................................6
5.5 Iron support for measurements........................................................................6
5.6 Test sample ..................................................................................................6
5.7 Test of cordless irons having a mains supply attachment ...................................6
6 Determination of mass...............................................................................................6

7 Measurement of length of flexible cord ........................................................................7

8 Measurement of scratch resistance of sole-plate ..........................................................7

9 Measurement of input power ......................................................................................7

10 Measurement of heating-up time ................................................................................7

11 Determination of the hottest point ...............................................................................7

12 Measurement of temperature distribution.....................................................................8

13 Measurement of sole-plate temperature ......................................................................8

14 Measurement of initial overswing temperature and heating-up excess temperature.........9

15 Measurement of cyclic fluctuation of temperature of the hottest point .............................9

16 Determination of temperature drop under load .............................................................9

17 Measurement of thermostatic stability .........................................................................9

17.1 Heating test...................................................................................................9
17.2 Drop test ..................................................................................................... 10
17.3 Determination of drift of thermostat ................................................................ 10
 iv

Page

18 Measurement of heating-up time for steaming operation ............................................. 10

19 Measurement of steaming time, steaming rate and water leakage rate ......................... 11

20 Determination of total steaming time for hard water .................................................... 12

21 Determination of adhesion of polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) coating or similar

coating on sole-plate ............................................................................................... 13

22 Assessment of the spray function ............................................................................. 13

22.1 Determination of the mass of spray................................................................ 13
23 Determination of mass of a shot of steam .................................................................. 15

24 Determination of smoothness of the sole-plate........................................................... 16

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25 Assessment of smoothing ........................................................................................ 17

25.1 Creasing of test cloth ................................................................................... 17
25.2 Conditioning of the iron ................................................................................ 18
25.3 Ironing ........................................................................................................ 18
25.4 Evaluation ................................................................................................... 18
26 Ironing with shot of steam ........................................................................................ 18

Figures .............................................................................................................. 19

Annexes

A Cotton cloth ........................................................................................................... 31

B Ironing board.......................................................................................................... 32

C Classification of electric irons................................................................................... 35

 1

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA
_________
Australian Standard

Electric irons for household or similar use—

Methods for measuring performance
_________
Any IEC table, figure or passage of text that is struck-through is not part of this Standard.
Any Australian table, figure or passage of text that is added (and identified by shading) is
part of this Standard.

1 Scope and object

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This standard applies to electric irons for household or similar use.

The purpose of this standard is to state and define the principal performance
characteristics of electric irons for household or similar use which are of interest to the
user, and to describe the standard methods for measuring these characteristics.

This standard is concerned neither with safety nor with performance requirements.
NOTE – The primary characteristic to be taken into account in ass essing the perf ormanc e of an electric iron is
its basic ability to produce a smooth finish to textile materials, without risk of scorching or other damage. lt
has not proved possible to devis e a single method which will measure this characteristic in a consistently
reproducible way and measurements have theref ore been included to check c ertain factors such as
temperature of the s ole-plate at the mid-point, sole-plate temperature distribution, etc., which affect the basic
characteristic. In evaluating the results, it must be realized that, while a very exc eptional result in any one of
them may significantly affect performance, there is considerable latitude in the combination of results which
will give satisfactory ironing performance, and too much significance should not be attached to minor
differenc es in any one result.

2 Normative references

The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this
text, constitute provisions of this International Standard. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All normative documents are subject to revision, and parties
to agreements based on this International Standard are encouraged to investigate the
possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated
below. Members of IEC and ISO maintain registers of currently valid International Standards.

References to International Standards that are struck through in this Clause are replaced
by references to equivalent Australian or Australian/New Zealand Standards that are
listed immediately thereafter and identified by shading. Any Australian or Australian/
New Zealand Standard that is identical to the International Standard it replaces is
appropriately identified.

IEC 60051-1:1984, Direct acting indicating analogue electrical-measuring instruments and

their accessories – Part 1: Definitions and general requirements common to all parts

IEC 60454-3-3:1981, Specification for pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes for electrical

purposes – Part 3: Specifications for individual materials – Sheet 3: Requirements for
polyester film tapes (PETP) with non-thermosetting adhesive

AS 1621.3.3—1988, Pressure-sensitive adhesive electrical tapes, Part 3.3: Specific

requirements—Polyester film tapes (PETP) with non-thermosetting adhesive (identical to
IEC 60454-3-3:1981)

COPYRIGHT
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AS 60311-1999, Electric irons for household or

similar use - Methods for measuring performance
This is a free 7 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

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