How to Explain Waterproof with IP Ratings

What is waterproof and dust-resistant? What do the letter and numbers in IPXX stand for?

It is often confusing for an engineer to know what type of ingress protection requires for the device protection. Mere waterproof, water-resistant, and other descriptive labels are not helping. Fortunately, several rating systems have been developed and testing agencies to verify the results. Among these, the two well-known are NEMA and IP. In this article, we will focus on the IP system.

The IP (Ingress Protection) ratings are defined in the international standard IEC/EN 60529, which classifies the levels of sealing effectiveness of electrical enclosures against the intrusion of solid objects, dust, accidental contact, and water. The standard aims to provide users with more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as waterproof.

Code Breakdown

The IP rating is usually shown as the letters IP followed by two digits and optional letter(s).

The two numeric digits indicate conformity with the conditions summarized in the tables below. The digit is replaced with the letter X when insufficient data has been gathered to assign a protection level

The third digit was removed from the IP Code and moved to the separate IK Code specified in EN-62262. Although no longer used, you may still find it on older electrical casings and enclosures. On the other hand, the IP code occasionally has an additional letter at the end of it. These letters are used to denote extra protections not covered in the primary two digits.

Additional letter (optional)

For the protection of personnel against access to hazardous parts with:

Supplementary letter (optional)

For the protection of equipment specific to:

Which IP Rating Do I Need?

To answer this question, it ultimately depends on the environment in which your devices will be installed, whether they will be subjected to dust, debris, or liquids. Typically, lower IP ratings are used for indoor settings where jetting water will not be an issue. High-IP-rated fixtures are used for outdoor locations subjected to greater liquids and dust, such as fields, beachfront areas, dirty warehouses, etc.

The type of works also needs to be taken into consideration. For example, work in a meat production factory. The IP69K device might be the best choice since cleaning the facility requires high-pressure hot water. But if you are working in an industry which likely to use powerful jet of lower temperature water, you might want to consider IP65 device.

Learn more: Food & Hygienic Industrial Solution