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 rating is also known as ingress protection. 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

1 First digit 2 Second digit 3 Additional letters 4 Mechanical impact resistance 5 IP69K 6 NEMA Rating

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.

Level

Object size protected against

Effective against

No protection against contact and ingress of objects

>50 mm

Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection against deliberate contact with a body part

2 3 4 5 6

>12.5 mm >2.5 mm >1 mm dust protected dust tight

Fingers or similar objects Tools, thick wires, etc. Most wires, screws, etc. 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

Second digit Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against harmful ingress of water.

Level

Protected against

Details

not protected

dripping water

Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful effect.

2 3 4 5 6 7

dripping water Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the when tilted up to enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15 from its normal position. 15 spraying water splashing water water jets powerful water jets Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60 from the vertical shall have no harmful effect. Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect. Water projected by a nozzle against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. Water projected in powerful jets against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.

Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when immersion up to the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of 1m pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion). The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. NOTE: 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 produces no harmful effects.

immersion beyond 1 m

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

back of hand

finger

tool

wire

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

Letter

Meaning

high voltage device

device moving during water test

device standing still during water test

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. OLD 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 20.0 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 number

Impact energy (joules)

Equivalent impact

00

unprotected no test

01

0.150

drop of 200 gram object from 7.5 cm height

02

0.200

drop of 200 gram object from 10 cm height

03

0.350

drop of 200 gram object from 17.5 cm height

04

0.500

drop of 200 gram object from 25 cm height

05

0.700

drop of 200 gram object from 35 cm height

06

1.00

drop of 500 gram object from 20 cm height

07

2.00

drop of 500 gram object from 40 cm height

08

5.00

drop of 1.7 kg object from 29.5 cm height

09

10.0

drop of 5 kg object from 20 cm height

10

20.0

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.[3] Such enclosures must not only be dust tight (IP6X), but also able to withstand highpressure and steam cleaning. The test specifies a spray nozzle that is fed with 80C water at 810 MPa (80100 bar) and a flow rate of 1416 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 NEMA enclosure ratings have equivalent IP ingress protection ratings as follows. NEMA enclosure standards also dictate other product features not addressed by IP codes (such as submersibility, operation under icing conditions, and others). [4]

NEMA Enclosure IP Code

4, 4X

IP66

12

IP52

13

IP54

North American enclosure rating systems are defined in NEMA 250, UL 50, UL 508, and CSA C22.2 No. 94