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The IP code or ingress protection code indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. It defined by the
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and r ...
(IEC) under the
international standard
international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International Or ...
IEC 60529 which classifies and provides a guideline to the degree of protection provided by mechanical casings and
electrical enclosures
An electrical enclosure is a cabinet for electrical or electronic equipment to mount switches, knobs and displays and to prevent electrical shock to equipment users and protect the contents from the environment. The enclosure is the only par ...
against intrusion,
dust
Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...
, accidental contact, and
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
. It is published in the European Union by the
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
CENELEC (french: Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique; en, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) is responsible for European standardization in the area of electrical engineering. Together with ETSI (telecommun ...
(CENELEC) as EN 60529.
The standard aims to provide users more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as ''waterproof''. For example, a cellular phone rated at IP67 is "dust resistant" and can be "immersed in 1 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes". Similarly, an electrical socket rated IP22 is protected against insertion of fingers and will not 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.
The digits indicate conformity with the conditions summarized in the tables below. The digit ''0'' is used where no protection is provided. The digit is replaced with the letter ''X'' when insufficient data has been gathered to assign a protection level. The device can become less capable, however it cannot become unsafe.
There are no hyphens in a standard IP code. IPX-8 (for example) is thus an invalid IP code.
Code breakdown
This table shows what each digit or part of the IP code represents.
First digit: Solid particle protection
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.
Second digit: Liquid ingress protection
The second digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against harmful ingress of water.
[.]
The ratings for water ingress are not cumulative beyond IPX6. A device that is compliant with IPX7 (covering immersion in water) is not necessarily compliant with IPX5 or IPX6 (covering exposure to water jets). A device that meets both tests is indicated by listing both tests separated by a slash, e.g. IPX5/IPX7.
(All tests with the letter "K" are defined by ISO 20653 (replacing DIN 40050-9) and are not found in IEC 60529, except for IPx9 which is the same as the IP69K water test.)
Additional letter (optional)
For the protection of personnel against access to hazardous parts with:
Supplementary letter (optional)
For the protection of equipment specific to:
The letter K is specified in ISO 20653 (replacing DIN 40050-9), and not in IEC 60529.
IP69K and IPx9
DIN 40050-9 extended the newer IEC 60529 rating system with an IP69K rating for high-pressure, high-temperature wash-down applications. Enclosures conforming with ISO 20653:2013 must not only be dust-tight (IP6X), but also able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning.
The IP69K standard was originally developed for road vehicles—especially those that need regular intensive cleaning (dump trucks, concrete mixers, etc.)—but it also finds use in other areas, such as
food processing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
machinery and
car wash
A car wash, carwash, or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or fully automated (possi ...
systems. It was superseded by ISO 20653:2013 Road Vehicles-Degrees of protection (IP code), and complemented by the addition of a level 9 water ingress testing to IEC 60529, which includes essentially the same spray test as IP69K, but also includes, in Figure 10 of the standard, a drawing for a test fixture designed to verify the correct water pressure.
Test setup
The test specifies a spray nozzle that is fed with water at and a flow rate of . The nozzle is held 10–15 cm from the tested device at angles of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90° for 30 seconds each. The test device sits on a turntable that completes a rotation once every 12 seconds (5
rpm
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
). The IPx9 specification details a freehand method for testing larger specimens that will not fit on a turntable (see table above). The free hand method also requires (at least) one additional minute of spray time (1 min/m
2, 3 min. minimum). The test distance also increases to .175 m (0.15–0.2 m per section 14.2.9).
United States (NEMA rating)
In the U.S., the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the largest trade association of electrical equipment manufacturers in the United States. Founded in 1926, it advocates for the industry, and publishes standards for electrical product ...
defines
NEMA enclosure types The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) defines standards used in North America for various grades of electrical enclosures typically used in industrial applications. Each is rated to protect against personal access to hazardous pa ...
in NEMA standard number 250. The following table outlines which IEC 60529 IP code each respective NEMA guideline meets. Ratings between the two standards are not directly equivalent: NEMA ratings also require additional product features and tests (such as functionality under icing conditions, enclosures for
hazardous areas, knock-outs for cable connections and others) not addressed by IP ratings.
Waterproofness without IP rating
There is a
common misconception
Each entry on this list of common misconceptions is worded as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated. These entries are concise summaries of the main subject articles, which can be consulted for more detail.
...
that smartphones that have no IP rating are equal to having no water resistance at all. Due to the high cost of getting IP certified, many companies make products waterproof without certifying them to reduce overhead costs.
See also
*
Appliance classes
Appliance classes (also known as protection classes) specify measures to prevent dangerous contact voltages on unenergized parts, such as the metallic casing, of an electronic device. In the electrical appliance manufacturing industry, the followi ...
*
EN 62262
The European Standard EN 62262 — the equivalent of international standard IEC 62262 (2002) — relates to IK (impact protection) ratings. This is an international numeric classification for the degrees of protection provided by enclosures for ele ...
– IK code on resistance to mechanical impacts
*
MIL-STD-810
MIL-STD-810, U S Department of Defense Test Method Standard, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, is a United States Military Standard that emphasizes tailoring an equipment's environmental design and test limits to the ...
*
U.S. Military connector specifications for military equivalents
*
Water Resistant mark
Water Resistant is a common mark stamped on the back of wrist watches to indicate how well a watch is sealed against the ingress of water. It is usually accompanied by an indication of the static test pressure that a sample of newly manufacture ...
on wrist watches
References
External links
{{Commons category, IP code
2004 version of the standard
Certification marks
Electrical enclosures
IEC 60529