IEC 60974-7:2013 specifies safety and construction requirements for torches for arc welding and allied processes. This part of IEC 60974 is applicable to manual, mechanically guided, air-cooled, liquid-cooled, motorized, spool-on and fume extraction torches. In this part of IEC 60974, a torch consists of the torch body, the cable-hose assembly and other components. This part of IEC 60974 is also applicable to a cable-hose assembly connected between a power source and ancillary equipment. This part of IEC 60974 is not applicable to electrode holders for manual metal arc welding or air-arc cutting/gouging. This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition published in 2007 and constitutes a technical revision. The significant changes with respect to the previous edition are listed below:
- new requirement for degree of protection of torch coupling device (see Table 1);
- scope is extended to cable-hose assembly connected between a power source and ancillary equipment (see Clause 1);
- torch parts, as recommended by the manufacturer, are included in the safe plasma cutting system design (see 7.4.2);
- new flammability requirement for handle material (see 11.3).