IEC 60974-11:2021

IEC 60974-11 ®
Edition 4.0 2021-04
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Arc welding equipment –
Part 11: Electrode holders
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Central Office Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

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details all new publications released. Available online and
and French, with equivalent terms in 18 additional languages.
once a month by email.
Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary

(IEV) online.
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need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
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IEC 60974-11 ®
Edition 4.0 2021-04
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Arc welding equipment –
Part 11: Electrode holders
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 25.160.30 ISBN 978-2-8322-9722-3

– 2 – IEC 60974-11:2021 RLV © IEC 2021
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Environmental conditions . 6
5 Type Tests . 7
5.1 Test conditions . 7
5.2 Measuring instruments . 7
5.3 Conformity of components . 7
5.4 Tests sequence Type tests . 7
6 Designation . 7
7 Operation . 8
8 Protection against electric shock . 8
8.1 Protection against direct contact . 8
8.2 Insulation resistance . 9
8.3 Dielectric strength . 9
9 Thermal rating . 10
9.1 Temperature rise . 10
9.2 Resistance to heat . 10
9.3 Resistance to hot objects . 11
10 Mechanical requirements . 11
10.1 Welding cable entry . 11
10.2 Penetration of the welding cable insulation . 12
10.3 Welding cable connection . 12
10.4 Impact resistance . 12
11 Marking . 13
12 Instructions for use . 14
Bibiliography . 15

Figure 1 – Arrangement for the temperature rise test . 10
Figure 2 – Device for testing the resistance to hot objects . 11
Figure 3 – Device for the pendulum swing test . 13

Table 1 – Dimensional requirements for the ELECTRODE HOLDER . 7

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ARC WELDING EQUIPMENT –
Part 11: Electrode holders
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC Publication(s)”). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of patent
rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This redline version of the official IEC Standard allows the user to identify the changes
made to the previous edition IEC 60974-11:2010. A vertical bar appears in the margin
wherever a change has been made. Additions are in green text, deletions are in
strikethrough red text.
– 4 – IEC 60974-11:2021 RLV © IEC 2021
International Standard IEC 60974-11 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 26:
Electric welding.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition, published in 2010. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
The significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition are the following:
– Modify 3.6 type A to category A;
– Modify 3.7 type B to category B;
– Modify 8.1 to clarify reference to IEC 60529;
– Modification of 10.1 for clarification purposes;
– Added Bibliography.
This part of IEC 60974 is to be used in conjunction with IEC 60974-1.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
26/716/FDIS 26/721/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
In this standard, the following print types are used:
– conformity statements: in italic type.
– terms defined in Clause 3: in SMALL ROMAN CAPITALS.
A list of all parts of the IEC 60974 series, published under the general title Arc welding
equipment, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

ARC WELDING EQUIPMENT –
Part 11: Electrode holders
1 Scope
This part of IEC 60974 is applicable to ELECTRODE HOLDERS for manual metal arc welding with
electrodes up to 10 mm in diameter.
It is not applicable to ELECTRODE HOLDERS for underwater welding.
This document specifies safety and performance requirements of ELECTRODE HOLDERS.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
IEC 60050-151:2001, International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) – Part 151: Electrical and
magnetic devices
IEC 60050-151:2001/AMD1:2013
IEC 60050-151:2001/AMD2:2014
IEC 60050-151:2001/AMD3:2019
IEC 60050-151:2001/AMD4:2020
IEC 60529:1989, Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code)
IEC 60529:1989/AMD1:1999
IEC 60529:1989/AMD2:2013
IEC 60974-1:2017, Arc welding equipment – Part 1: Welding power sources
IEC 60974-1:2017/AMD1:2019
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in IEC 60050-151 and
IEC 60974-1, as well as the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
electrode holder
insulated tool for manual metal arc welding intended to clamp and guide the electrode and to
ensure electrical connection to it
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-851:2008, 851-14-04]

– 6 – IEC 60974-11:2021 RLV © IEC 2021
3.2
head
part of the ELECTRODE HOLDER having cavities or jaws or equivalent f
...

IEC 60974-11 ®
Edition 4.0 2021-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Arc welding equipment –
Part 11: Electrode holders
Matériel de soudage à l’arc –
Partie 11: Porte-électrodes
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

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et les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des
questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez
les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Central Office Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé info@iec.ch
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC online collection - oc.iec.ch
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical publications previews. With a subscription you will always
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, replaced have access to up to date content tailored to your needs.
and withdrawn publications.
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published
containing more than 22 000 terminological entries in English
details all new publications released. Available online and
and French, with equivalent terms in 18 additional languages.
once a month by email.
Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary

(IEV) online.
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or
need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: sales@iec.ch.
A propos de l'IEC
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IEC 60974-11 ®
Edition 4.0 2021-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Arc welding equipment –
Part 11: Electrode holders
Matériel de soudage à l’arc –
Partie 11: Porte-électrodes
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 25.160.30 ISBN 978-2-8322-1016-0

– 2 – IEC 60974-11:2021 © IEC 2021
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Environmental conditions . 6
5 Tests . 6
5.1 Test conditions . 6
5.2 Measuring instruments . 6
5.3 Conformity of components . 7
5.4 Type tests . 7
6 Designation . 7
7 Operation . 7
8 Protection against electric shock . 8
8.1 Protection against direct contact . 8
8.2 Insulation resistance . 8
8.3 Dielectric strength . 9
9 Thermal rating . 9
9.1 Temperature rise . 9
9.2 Resistance to heat . 10
9.3 Resistance to hot objects . 10
10 Mechanical requirements . 11
10.1 Welding cable entry . 11
10.2 Penetration of the welding cable insulation . 11
10.3 Welding cable connection . 11
10.4 Impact resistance . 11
11 Marking . 12
12 Instructions for use . 13
Bibiliography . 14

Figure 1 – Arrangement for the temperature rise test . 9
Figure 2 – Device for testing the resistance to hot objects . 10
Figure 3 – Device for the pendulum swing test . 12

Table 1 – Dimensional requirements for the ELECTRODE HOLDER . 7

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ARC WELDING EQUIPMENT –
Part 11: Electrode holders
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC Publication(s)”). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of patent
rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 60974-11 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 26:
Electric welding.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition, published in 2010. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
The significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition are the following:
– Modify 3.6 type A to category A;
– Modify 3.7 type B to category B;
– Modify 8.1 to clarify reference to IEC 60529;
– Modification of 10.1 for clarification purposes;
– Added Bibliography.
This part of IEC 60974 is to be used in conjunction with IEC 60974-1.

– 4 – IEC 60974-11:2021 © IEC 2021
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
26/716/FDIS 26/721/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
In this standard, the following print types are used:
– conformity statements: in italic type.
– terms defined in Clause 3: in SMALL ROMAN CAPITALS.
A list of all parts of the IEC 60974 series, published under the general title Arc welding
equipment, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• w
...