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In testing enclosures for ingress protection, as with every service we offer, Sira has the expertise
and experience to provide the support you have been looking for in terms of both technical
excellence and customer care.
The Sira UKAS accredited laboratory is fully equipped to conduct Ingress Protection tests specified
in BS EN 60529:1992 (IEC 529:1989). For our full testing capability please click here
The testing will assess the protection of the equipment against ingress of solid bodies and/or liquids,
varying over differing degrees of protection, depending upon the requirements you place on your
product. We will then measure the effects of this exposure, and give the product an appropriate IP
rating.
The level of protection of a product is signified by a number (i.e. IP67) where the first number is the
ingress protection against solid bodies, and the second number is protection against liquids.
Typically, testing takes around 2 weeks from receipt of samples, and fixed price quotations are
offered.
Degree of Protection
IP0X Non-protected -
IP1X Access to hazardous parts with the An access probe, sphere of 50 mm, shall have
back of a hand. adequate clearance from hazardous parts.
Solid foreign objects of > 50 mm. An object probe, sphere of 50 mm, shall not fully
penetrate.
IP2X Access to hazardous parts with A jointed test finger of 12 mm, 80 mm length, shall
finger. have adequate clearance from hazardous parts
Solid foreign objects of > 12.5 mm. An object probe, sphere of 12.5 mm, shall not fully
penetrate.
IP3X Access to hazardous parts with a An access probe of 2.5 mm shall not penetrate.
tool.
Solid foreign objects of > 2.5 mm. An object probe of 2.5 mm shall not penetrate at
all.
IP4X Access to hazardous parts with a An access probe of 1.0 mm shall not penetrate.
wire.
Solid foreign objects of > 1.0 mm. An object probe of 1.0 mm shall not penetrate at
all.
IP5X Access to hazardous parts with a An access probe of 1.0 mm shall not penetrate.
wire.
IP6X Hazardous parts with a wire. An access probe of 1.0 mm shall not penetrate.
IPX0 Non-protected. -
IPX1 Vertically falling water drops. Vertically falling drops shall have no harmful
effects.
IPX2 Vertically falling water drops when Vertically falling drops shall have no harmful
enclosure tilted up to 15°. effects when the enclosure is tilted at any angle
up to 15° on either side of the vertical.
IPX4 Splashing water. Water splashed against the enclosure from any
direction shall have no harmful effects.
IPX5 Water jets. Water projected in jets against the enclosure from
any direction shall have no harmful effects.
IPX6 Powerful water jets. Water projected in powerful jets against the
enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful
effects.
IPX7 The effects of temporary immersion Ingress of water in quantities causing harmful
in water. effects shall be prevented when the enclosure is
immersed in 1m of water for 30 minutes.
IPX8 The effects of continuous immersion Ingress of water in quantities causing harmful
in water. effects shall be prevented when the enclosure is
continuously immersed in water under conditions
which shall be agreed between manufacturer and
user (>IPX7).
IP-classification
Good enclosure of electrical or electronic equipment intended to operate in difficult
environments, where dust, corrosive substances, moisture or water can penetrate, is of the
utmost importance in reducing the risks of electric shock, fire or explosion.
Minimum requirements are set out in documents such as product standards for electrical safety and
in standards for equipment used in potentially explosive atmospheres.
There are also encapsulation requirements applicable to products with high reliability requirements
and where the entry of dust could cause problems. IP-classification testing is normally carried out in
accordance with the global IEC 60529 standard or its European equivalent, EN 60529, which has
also been adopted as Swedish Standard SS EN 60529.
IP 1X
The test for IP1X enclosures involves pressing a 50 mm diameter sphere with a force of 50 N
against all openings in the enclosure. The item is approved if the sphere does not fully enter the
enclosure and if there is a satisfactory distance from dangerous live parts and moving parts.
IP 2X
IP 2X testing involves pressing a standardised 12 mm diameter test finger with a force of 10 N, and
a 12,5 mm sphere with a force of 30 N, against all openings in the enclosure. For acceptance, the
sphere must not fully enter the enclosure and there must be a satisfactory distance between the
test finger and dangerous live parts and moving parts
IP 3X
IP 3X testing involves pressing a standardised test probe, in the form of a 2,5 mm steel wire,
against all openings in the enclosure, with a force of 3 N. For acceptance, the probe must not enter
the enclosure.
IP 4X
IP 4X testing involves pressing a standardised test probe, in the form of a 1 mm steel wire, against
all openings in the enclosure, with a force of 1 N. For acceptance, the probe must not enter the
enclosure.
IP 5X
Items to be tested for IP 5X enclosures are exposed to fine-grained circulating talcum powder in a
dust chamber for 2- 8 hours, with the exposure time being determined by the test conditions for the
specific item. This test is performed with a maximum depressure of 20 mbar inside the item under
test, and with a maximum extraction rateof 60 volumes/hour.
If specific product standards so permit, testing is performed without depressure for eight hours.
In addition to the dust test, a 1 mm steel wire is pressed with a force of 1 N against all openings in
the enclosure.
For acceptance for Class IP 5X, dust must not penetrate into the item in such quantities, or in such
a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk. There must
also be a safe distance from the wire to live or moving parts.
IP 6X
Items to be tested for IP 6X enclosures are exposed to fine-grained circulating talcum powder in a
dust chamber for 2- 8 hours, with the exposure time being determined by the test conditions for the
specific item. This test is performed with a maximum depressure of 20 mbar inside the item under
test, and with a maximum extraction rateof 60 volumes/hour.
IP X2
The enclosure is exposed to dripping water during 4 x 2.5 minutes, with a flow rate of 3 mm/min.
The enclosure is tested in four fixed inclinations 15o from normal position.
Acceptance for Class IP X2 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk
IP X3
The enclosure is exposed to water spray from an oscillating tube nozzle, with each spray jet giving
a flow rate of 0.07 l/min, for ten minutes. Alternatively, a standardised spray nozzle, producing a
spray of 10 l/min, may be used. If this spray nozzle is used, the exposure time is 1 min/m², with a
minimum of five minutes. Regardless of the type of test equipment, water spraying is limited to ±60°
from the vertical.
Acceptance for Class IP X3 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP X4
The enclosure is exposed to water spray from an oscillating tube, with each spray nozzle giving a
flow rate of 0.07 l/min, for ten minutes. Alternatively, a standardised spray nozzle, producing a spray
of 10 l/min, may be used. If this spray nozzle is used, the exposure time is 1 min/m², with a
minimum of five minutes. Water is splashed against the enclosure from all directions.
Acceptance for Class IP X4 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP X5
The enclosure is subjected to a jet of water from a 6,3 mm diameter nozzle at a distance of 2,5 - 3
m from the item under test. The water flow rate is 12,5 l/min, applied for a time of 1 min/m², with a
minimum of three minutes.
Acceptance for Class IP X5 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP X6
The enclosure is subjected to a jet of water from a 12,5 mm diameter nozzle at a distance of 2,5 - 3
m from the item under test. The water flow rate is 100 l/min, applied for a time of 1 min/m², with a
minimum of three minutes.
Acceptance for Class IP X6 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP X7
The test is made by completely immersing the enclosure in water in its service position.
The enclosure is immersed to the depth of one metre with the duration time of thirty minutes.
Acceptance for Class IP X7 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP X8
The test is made by completely immersing the enclosure in water.
Test conditions are subject to agreement between manufacturer and user.
Acceptance for Class IP X8 requires no water to have penetrated into the item in such a quantity, or
in such a position, as to prevent satisfactory operation of the item or to present a safety risk.
IP Code
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 IP2X are typical minimum
requirements for the design of electrical accessories for indoor use.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 First digit
• 2 Second digit
• 3 Additional letters
• 4 Mechanical impact resistance
• 5 IP69K
• 6 NEMA Rating
• 7 References
• 8 See also
• 9 External links
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
Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no
1 >50 mm
protection against deliberate contact with a body part
Second digit
Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against harmful ingress of water.
Protected
Level Details
against
0 not protected —
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:
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
W weather conditions
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.
0 — —
Impact
IK
energy Equivalent impact
number
(joules)
00 unprotected no test
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.[3] 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 8–10 MPa
(80–100 bar) and a flow rate of 14–16 L/min. The nozzle is held 10–15 cm from the tested
device at angles of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° for 30 s each. The test device sits on a turntable that
rotates once every 12 s (5 rpm).
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).
NEMA Rating
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) in the United States also
publishes protection ratings for enclosures similar to the IP rating system published by the
International Electro-technical Commission (IEC). NEMA however also dictates other
product features not addressed by IP codes, such as corrosion resistance, gasket aging, and
construction practices. For this reason 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.[4].
North American enclosure rating systems are defined in NEMA 250, UL 50, UL 508, and
CSA C22.2 No. 94.