IP - Ingress Protection Ratings

IP - Ingress Protection Ratings

IP - Ingress Protection rating is used to specify the environmental protection - electrical enclosure - of electrical equipment
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Ingress Protection (IP) ratings are developed by the European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization (CENELEC) (NEMA IEC 60529 Degrees of Protection Provided by Enclosures - IP Code), specifying the environmental protection the enclosure provides.

The IP rating normally has two (or three) numbers:

Protection from solid objects or materials
Protection from liquids (water)
Protection against mechanical impacts (commonly omitted, the third number is not a part of IEC 60529)
Example - IP Rating
With the IP rating IP 54, 5 describes the level of protection from solid objects and 4 describes the level of protection from liquids.

An "X" can used for one of the digits if there is only one class of protection, i.e. IPX1 which addresses protection against vertically falling drops of water e.g. condensation..

IP First number - Protection against solid objects
0 No special protection
1 Protected against solid objects up to 50 mm, e.g. accidental touch by persons hands.
2 Protected against solid objects up to 12 mm, e.g. persons fingers.
3 Protected against solid objects over 2.5 mm (tools and wires).
4 Protected against solid objects over 1 mm (tools, wires, and small wires).
5 Protected against dust limited ingress (no harmful deposit).
6 Totally protected against dust.

IP Second number - Protection against liquids
0 No protection.
1 Protection against vertically falling drops of water e.g. condensation.
2 Protection against direct sprays of water up to 15o from the vertical.
3 Protected against direct sprays of water up to 60o from the vertical.
4 Protection against water sprayed from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
5 Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions - limited ingress.
6 Protected against temporary flooding of water, e.g. for use on ship decks - limited ingress permitted.
7 Protected against the effect of immersion between 15 cm and 1 m.
8 Protects against long periods of immersion under pressure.

IP Third number - Protection against mechanical impacts (commonly omitted, the third number is not a part of IEC 60529)
0 No protection.
1 Protects against impact of 0.225 joule
(e.g. 150 g weight falling from 15 cm height).
2 Protected against impact of 0.375 joule
(e.g. 250 g weight falling from 15 cm height).
3 Protected against impact of 0.5 joule
(e.g. 250 g weight falling from 20 cm height).
4 Protected against impact of 2.0 joule
(e.g. 500 g weight falling from 40 cm height).
5 Protected against impact of 6.0 joule
(e.g. 1.5 kg weight falling from 40 cm height).
6 Protected against impact of 20.0 joule
(e.g. 5 kg weight falling from 40 cm height).

In order to comply with the stringent requirements for CE Marking machine makers today fits their machines with parts certified according EU (European Union) and international standards.

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INGRESS PROTECTION

Protection against the intrusion of foreign bodies into a lighting fixture.

The IEC1 has established standards categorizing ingress protection for luminaires beyond that provided by a UL Wet Location product listing and is accepted internationally.

1IEC International Electrotechnical Commission


INGRESS PROTECTION
Have you got it?


GLOBAL STANDARDS
In today’s global economy knowledge of international standards are essential to facilitate world wide lighting designs and product sales.

Lighting fixtures that meet the requirements of such standards are much more likely to be accepted all over the world. Lighting designers who utilize such standards will be able to understand and specify products on a global basis.

One such standard is IEC 5292 better known by it’s IP coding system (IP65) specifies tests for an electrical enclosure that determine it’s protection level against the ingress of foreign objects such as dust or water.

2See IEC 529 and IEC598-1:1996 for a complete explanation of IP relating to luminaires.


IP IS INGRESS PROTECTION3
The degree of protection assigned to a lighting fixture, is given by the IP code, defined by two digits such as:4
IP 65 - Describes a particular dust and water protection level.
IP 6X - The ‘6’ stands for a particular level of protection against solid intrusion5.
IP X5 - The ‘5’ stands for a particular level of protection against liquid intrusion.

The table below details the range and meaning of each code.
3IP is defined as International Protection in IEC 529.
4See IEC 529 and IEC598-1:1996 for a complete explanation of the IP categories and digits.
5Protection against foreign bodies such as dust and access to hazardous parts inside the fixture by a person or object held by a person.


PROTECTION AGAINST:

IP Solid Intrusion (Object Size)6
IP0X none
IP1X >= 50mm (approx. 2”)
IP2X >=12mm (approx. 1/2”)
IP3X >=2.5mm (approx. 1/10”)
IP4X >=1.0mm (approx. 1/25”)
IP5X dust proof
IP6X dust tight

IP
Liquid Intrusion (Water Direction & Force)
IPX0 none
IPX1 vertical drops
IPX2 drops up to 15° to vertical
IPX3 spray up to 60° to vertical
IPX4 splash proof in all directions
IPX5 jet-water proof in all directions
IPX6 powerful jet-water proof in all directions
IPX7 temporary immersion
IPX8 continuous immersion

6IEC529 describes protection categories against the entry of solid objects as shown above. IEC529 also describes protection categories to limit the access to hazardous parts inside the fixture by a person or object held by a person. To achieve a particular coding both sets of requirements must established.


IP MARKINGS
Products passing the tests may apply the markings7 shown below in addition to the “IP65” format. Note, only some categories have been assigned a symbol.

Liquid Intrusion Solid Intrusion
IPX1 - vertical drops
IPX3- spray up to 60° to vertical
IPX4 - splash proof in all directions
IPX5 - jet-water proof all directions IPX5 - dust proof
IPX7 - temporary immersion IPX6 - dust tight

7See IEC598-1:1996 for a complete explanation of markings and requirements before they can be applied.


INGRESS PROTECTION WE HAVE IT!

IP67 Products
SL-23, SL-24, SL-29, SL-33,
SL-34, SL-42, SL-43

- Completely Dust-tight
- Jet water-proof in all directions and able to withstand temporary immersion
- But it is not an underwater fixture e.g. IP68.

IP44 Products
AA-100, AA-101

- Objects > 1mm (1/25”) will not enter
- Splash proof in all directions
- Typical for pole mounted fixtures


INGRESS PROTECTION WE TEST FOR IT!
The degree of protection assigned a lighting fixture is only as good as the tests performed to measure it.8

Two of the most common tests performed on outdoor wet location lighting fixtures are the dust and jet water test. For a lighting fixture to be rated IP65 it must pass both.

During the dust test a fixture is placed in a closed chamber of suspended talcum powder. The powder used to simulate dust consists of particles as small as 5µm wide. The fixture is brought to normal operating temperature before being placed in the chamber. It is then switched off and allowed to cool for 3 hours in the dust chamber.

8See IEC 529 and IEC598-1:1996 for a complete explanation of the test requirements.


After the test has been completed the fixture is inspected for internal dust deposits. To pass at level 6 no internal deposit of dust must be observed. After the dust test, the fixture is then prepared for the category 5, jet water test.



The fixture is sprayed from all possible directions with a water jet. The water jet is sprayed from a 6.3mm internal diameter nozzle at a delivery rate of 12.5l/min, from a 3m distance, for a test duration of 15 minutes.



Further Reading:
1. IEC 592 Second Edition 1989-11
Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP code)

2. IEC 598-1 Fourth Edition 1996-11
Luminaires - Part 1: General requirements and tests

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