IP Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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IP Code
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The IP Code (or Ingress Protection Rating[1], sometimes also interpreted as International Protection Rating[2]) consists of the letters IP followed by two digits or one digit and one letter and an optional letter. As defined in international standard IEC 60529, IP Code classifies and rates the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (including body parts like hands and fingers), dust, accidental contact, and water in mechanical casings and with electrical enclosures[3]. The standard aims to provide users more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as waterproof. However, no edition of the standard is openly published for unlicensed readers, hence leaving space for varying interpretation. The digits (characteristic numerals) indicate conformity with the conditions summarized in the tables below. Where there is no protection rating with regard to one of the criteria, the digit is replaced with the letter X. For example, an electrical socket rated IP22 is protected against insertion of fingers and will not be damaged or become unsafe during a specified test in which it is exposed to vertically or nearly vertically dripping water. IP22 or 2X are typical minimum requirements for the design of electrical accessories for indoor use.

Contents
1 Solids, first digit 2 Liquids, second digit 3 Additional letters 4 Mechanical impact resistance 5 IP69K 6 NEMA Rating 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Solids, first digit

The first digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against access to hazardous parts (e.g., electrical conductors, moving parts) and the ingress of solid foreign objects. Object size protected against >50 mm >12.5 mm >2.5 mm >1 mm

Level 0 1 2 3 4

Effective against No protection against contact and ingress of objects Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection against deliberate contact with a body part Fingers or similar objects Tools, thick wires, etc. Most wires, screws, etc.

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Dust protected Dust tight

Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact

Liquids, second digit

Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against harmful ingress of water.[4] Protected against Not protected

Level 0

Testing for

Details

Test duration: 10 minutes 1 Dripping water Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful Water equivalent effect. to 1mm rainfall per minute Test duration: 10 minutes Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15 from its normal position. Water equivalent to 3mm rainfall per minute Test duration: 5 minutes 3 Spraying water Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60 from the vertical shall have no harmful effect. Water volume: 0.7 litres per minute Pressure: 80100 kN/m Test duration: 5 minutes 4 Splashing water Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall Water volume: 10 litres per minute have no harmful effect. Pressure: 80100 kN/m Test duration: at least 3 minutes 5 Water jets Water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. Water volume: 12.5 litres per minute

Dripping water when tilted up to 15

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Pressure: 30 kN/m at distance of 3m Test duration: at least 3 minutes Powerful water jets Water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. Water volume: 100 litres per minute Pressure: 100 kN/m at distance of 3m Test duration: 30 minutes Immersion at depth of 1m Test duration: continuous immersion in water Depth specified by manufacturer

Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible Immersion up when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined to 1 m conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).

Immersion beyond 1 m

The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no harmful effects.

Additional letters
The standard defines additional letters that can be appended to classify only the level of protection against access to hazardous parts by persons: Level Protected against access to hazardous parts with A B C D Back of hand Finger Tool Wire

Further letters can be appended to provide additional information related to the protection of the device: Letter H M S Meaning High voltage device Device moving during water test Device standing still during water test

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Weather conditions

Mechanical impact resistance

An additional number has sometimes been used to specify the resistance of equipment to mechanical impact. This mechanical impact is identified by the energy needed to qualify a specified resistance level, which is measured in joules (J). This has now been superseded by the separate IK number specified in EN 50102. Although dropped from the 3rd edition of IEC 60529 onwards, and not present in the EN version, older enclosure specifications will sometimes be seen with an optional third IP digit denoting impact resistance. Newer products are likely to be given an IK rating instead. However there is not an exact correspondence of values between the old and new standards. Dropped IP level Impact energy Equivalent drop mass and height 0 1 2 3 5 7 9 0.225 J 0.375 J 0.5 J 2J 6J 20 J 150 g dropped from 15 cm 250 g dropped from 15 cm 250 g dropped from 20 cm 500 g dropped from 40 cm 1.5 kg dropped from 40 cm 5.0 kg dropped from 40 cm

IK Impact energy number (joules) 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Unprotected 0.15 0.2 0.35 0.5 0.7 1 2 5 10 20 No test

Equivalent impact

Drop of 200 g object from 7.5 cm height Drop of 200 g object from 10 cm height Drop of 200 g object from 17.5 cm height Drop of 200 g object from 25 cm height Drop of 200 g object from 35 cm height Drop of 500 g object from 20 cm height Drop of 500 g object from 40 cm height Drop of 1.7 kg object from 29.5 cm height Drop of 5 kg object from 20 cm height Drop of 5 kg object from 40 cm height

IP69K
German standard DIN 40050-9 extends the IEC 60529 rating system described above with an IP69K rating for high-pressure, high-temperature wash-down applications.[5] Such enclosures must not only be dust tight (IP6X), but also able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning.
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The test specifies a spray nozzle that is fed with 80C water at 810MPa (80100bar) and a flow rate of 1416L/min. The nozzle is held 105 cm from the tested device at angles of 0, 40, 60 and 90 for 30s each. The test device sits on a turntable that rotates once every 12s (5rpm). The IP69K test specification was initially developed for road vehicles, especially those that need regular intensive cleaning (dump trucks, cement mixers, etc.), but also finds use in other areas (e.g., food industry, car wash centres).

NEMA Rating
IP Code IP20 IP54 IP65 IP67 IP68 Min. NEMA Enclosure rating to satisfy IP Code 1 3 4, 4X 6 6P

The United States National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) also publishes protection ratings for enclosures similar to the IP rating system published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). However, it also dictates other product features not addressed by IP codes, such as corrosion resistance, gasket aging, and construction practices. Thus, while it is possible to map IP Codes to NEMA ratings that satisfy or exceed the IP Code criteria, it is not possible to map NEMA ratings to IP codes, as the IP Code does not mandate the additional requirements. The table above indicates the minimum NEMA rating that satisfies a given IP code, but can only be used in that way, not to map IP to NEMA.[6] North American enclosure rating systems are defined in NEMA 250, UL 50, UL 508, and CSA C22.2 N. 94.

See also
EN 50102 IK code on resistance to mechanical impacts MIL-STD-810 National Electrical Manufacturers Association Water Resistant mark on wrist watches U.S. Military connector specifications for military equivalents

References
1. ^ Interpreting the acronym officially in the standard text (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc /catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=39578) 2. ^ IEC 60529 (ed2.1), clause 4.1. 3. ^ IEC 60529: Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code). International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva. 4. ^ Ingress Protection: The System of Tests and Meaning of Codes (http://www.ce-mag.com/archive/06/ARG /bisenius.htm) , http://www.ce-mag.com/archive/06/ARG/bisenius.htm. 5. ^ DIN 40050-9: Straenfahrzeuge; IP-Schutzarten; Schutz gegen Fremdkrper, Wasser und Berhren; Elektrische Ausrstung [Road vehicles; degrees of protection (IP-code); protection against foreign objects, water and impact; electrical equipment], May 1993. An English translation of the German original is available from DIN.

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6. ^ "FAQ Enclosures" (http://www.nema.org/stds/aboutstds/upload/FAQ-Enclosures.doc) . NEMA. http://www.nema.org/stds/aboutstds/upload/FAQ-Enclosures.doc. Retrieved 2010-03-03.

External links
IEC Home Page (http://www.iec.ch) IEC Web Store (buy IEC standards online) (http://webstore.iec.ch) Australian IP ratings (http://www.accesscomms.com.au/reference/ip.htm) Protection test IP69K (http://www.ifmefector.com/ifmind/web/test-ip69k.htm) NEMA vs IP Rating (http://www.lcdenclosure.co.uk/ip-rating.html) IP Rating information (http://www.lcdtvenclosure.com/ip-rating-standards.html) (PDF) Rugged Electronic Devices and Measurement of Ruggedness: A guide to deciphering ruggedness claims in cell phones, Smart Phones, PDAs &c (http://www.airowireless.com /docs/Ruggedized.pdf) , Airo Wireless, http://www.airowireless.com/docs/Ruggedized.pdf. A demonstration of an IP test being carried out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be_VKMPmN0c) , YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be_VKMPmN0c. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code" Categories: Certification marks | Electrical engineering | IEC standards This page was last modified on 22 May 2011 at 23:55. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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