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IP Code
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The IP Code (or International Protection Rating,[1] sometimes also interpreted as Ingress Protection Rating)
consists of the letters IP followed by two digits and an optional letter. As defined in international standard IEC
60529, it classifies the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (including body parts
like hands and fingers), dust, accidental contact, and water in electrical enclosures.[2] The standard aims to
provide users more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as waterproof.

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
Level Effective against
protected against
0 — No protection against contact and ingress of objects
Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection
1 >50 mm
against deliberate contact with a body part
2 >12.5 mm Fingers or similar objects
3 >2.5 mm Tools, thick wires, etc.
4 >1 mm Most wires, screws, etc.
Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient
5 Dust protected quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete
protection against contact
6 Dust tight No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact

Liquids, second digit

Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against harmful ingress of water.[3]

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Protected
Level Testing for Details
against
0 Not protected — —
Test duration: 10
minutes
Dripping Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful
1 Water equivalent
water effect.
to 3–5mm rainfall
per minute

Test duration: 10
minutes
Dripping
Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the
2 water when Water equivalent
enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15° from its normal position.
tilted up to 15° to 3–5mm rainfall
per minute

Test duration: 5
minutes

Spraying Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical Water volume: 0.7
3
water shall have no harmful effect. litres per minute
Pressure: 80–
100 kN/m²

Test duration: 5
minutes

Splashing Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall Water volume: 10
4
water have no harmful effect. litres per minute
Pressure: 80–
100 kN/m²

Test duration: at
least 3 minutes

Water volume:
Water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) against enclosure from any 12.5 litres per
5 Water jets
direction shall have no harmful effects. minute
Pressure:
30 kN/m² at
distance of 3m

Test duration: at
least 3 minutes

Water volume:
Powerful Water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm nozzle) against the 100 litres per
6
water jets enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. minute
Pressure:
100 kN/m² at
distance of 3m

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Test duration: 30
Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the minutes
Immersion up
7 enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of
to 1 m Immersion at
pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).
depth of 1m

Test duration:
The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water continuous
under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. immersion in
Immersion Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically water
8
beyond 1 m sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that
water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no Depth specified by
harmful effects. manufacturer

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 Back of hand
B Finger
C Tool
D Wire

Further letters can be appended to provide additional information related to the protection of the device:

Letter Meaning
H High voltage device
M Device moving during water test
S Device standing still during water test
W 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.

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Dropped IP level Impact energy Equivalent drop mass and height
0 — —
1 0.225 J 150 g dropped from 15 cm
2 0.375 J 250 g dropped from 15 cm
3 0.5 J 250 g dropped from 20 cm
5 2J 500 g dropped from 40 cm
7 6J 1.5 kg dropped from 40 cm
9 20 J 5.0 kg dropped from 40 cm

IK Impact energy
Equivalent impact
number (joules)
00 Unprotected No test
01 0.15 Drop of 200 g object from 7.5 cm height
02 0.2 Drop of 200 g object from 10 cm height
03 0.35 Drop of 200 g object from 17.5 cm height
04 0.5 Drop of 200 g object from 25 cm height
05 0.7 Drop of 200 g object from 35 cm height
06 1 Drop of 500 g object from 20 cm height
07 2 Drop of 500 g object from 40 cm height
08 5 Drop of 1.7 kg object from 29.5 cm height
09 10 Drop of 5 kg object from 20 cm height
10 20 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.[4] Such enclosures must not only be dust tight (IP6X),
but also able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning.

The test specifies a spray nozzle that is fed with 80°C water at 8–10MPa (80–100bar) and a flow rate of 14–
6L/min. The nozzle is held 10–5 cm from the tested device at angles of 0°, 30°, 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
Min. NEMA Enclosure rating to satisfy IP
IP Code
Code
IP20 1
IP54 3
IP65 4, 4X
IP67 6
IP68 6P

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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 to the right 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.[5]

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. ^ IEC 60529 (ed2.1), clause 4.1.
2. ^ IEC 60529: Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code). International Electrotechnical Commission,
Geneva.
3. ^ (PDF) IPX Codes (http://www.newenglandlaser.com/attachments/File/pdf/IPX_Codes.pdf) , New England Laser,
http://www.newenglandlaser.com/attachments/File/pdf/IPX_Codes.pdf.
4. ^ DIN 40050-9: Straßenfahrzeuge; IP-Schutzarten; Schutz gegen Fremdkörper, Wasser und Berühren; Elektrische
Ausrüstung [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.
5. ^ "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 29 December 2010 at 02:52.

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