A certification is very important for any product or service, as this means that the product is safe to use. In addition, a certification can enhance the prestige of any brand, product, or service. You will see that the UL 2272 is not easy to achieve for any hoverboard, as many tests are involved to achieve it.
What is hoverboard UL 2272 safety certification?
The UL 2272 is just a standard that is used to evaluate the electrical system as well as charge system combinations. However the UL 2272 will not evaluate any kind of rider safety, reliability, or even performance. It also means that if anyone falls off a scooter as these things can be hard to balance on, this is not UL´s concern. However, testing the overall health of the many components comprising a hoverboard, from the circuit to the battery and how these devices are connected together, is the key to what UL does.
Starting with Materials
UL will start out testing a hoverboard`s materials - the actual materials that will have to go in a product´s components. Then they will test the components themselves, like the enclosure and the cell. Next, they will test the hoverboard itself, the charger, and the battery pack. Multi-cell battery packs and lithium-ion cells are of particular importance to the UL 2272, because these are the parts where the majority of issues might pop up down the road. The cause might be that the battery pack can carry tons of energy in just a small package. This can lead to overheating, fires, sparking, and even the battery exploding. Once a hoverboard or self balancing scooter has achieved this certification you can be sure that this won't happen.
Important Drop Test
The UL 2272 team will also perform an important drop test. This test involves dropping a hoverboard from one meter above the ground… three times. Though the model used might not fall apart, it will experience a serious crack anyway by the time any researcher might be done with the test. The final test might be sticking any hoverboard wheel in a vice – the hoverboard wheel houses the motor of the device. To qualify for the UL 2272 certification, the hoverboard must not overheat as it tries to free itself in within a 7-hour period.
As you can see, the UL 2272 certification is difficult to achieve, but that's a good thing as it means the product is safe. Though this certification will not deal with any kind of security features, the UL 2272 will enhance the prestige and performance of any hoverboard out there. Buyers will have peace of mind when buying any hoverboard that is UL 2272 certified because they know that the components of the device will work properly and is safe to use. Although this certification only came out this year, there are already a number of self balancing scooters that have achieved it including the Swagtron (pictured above), Hoverzon, Powerboard by Hoverboard, Segway Minipro and more. Any brand that doesn't have UL approval should be avoided.