- August 17, 2018
- Posted by: VISION MAVRIDAKIS
- Category: Technical issues
In order to have a rating for protection against contact from foreign bodies and from water to a piece of electronic equipment or an electronic equipment casing, an international codification has been established. This code is given in the IPab format, where IP the initials of INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION, a the degree of protection from contact and foreign matter and b the degree of protection from water. The following table lists the possible values for these two digits (a & b).
| IP.. | First digit:
Degree of penetration of solid objects |
Second digit:
Degree of influx of liquids |
| 0 | No special protection | No special protection |
| 1 | Protection against the entry of solid foreign objects with a diameter of more than 50 mm (large size foreign bodies). No protection against hand contact. | Protection against dripping water vertically. There must be no harmful effects while the device is in place. |
| 2 | Protection against the entry of solid foreign objects with a diameter of more than 12 mm (medium size foreign bodies). Protection against finger contact and similar objects. | Protection against dripping water vertically. There should be no harmful effects if the device is tilted up to 15 ° to the vertical. |
| 3 | Protection against the entry of solid foreign objects with a diameter of more than 2.5 mm (small size foreign bodies). Protection against contact with tools, cables or similar objects, of a thickness exceeding 2,5 mm. | Protection against dripping water vertically. There should be no harmful effects if the device is tilted up to 60 ° to the vertical. |
| 4 | Protection against the entry of solid foreign objects with a diameter of more than 1 mm (grain size foreign bodies). Protection against contact with tools, cables or similar objects, of a thickness exceeding 1 mm. | Protection against water sprayed on the appliance.
There must be no harmful effects regardless of which direction the water falls on the device. |
| 5 | Protection against harmful dust deposits. Dust inlet is not completely forbidden, but the inputs do not cause the device to malfunction. | Protection against water blasted off on the appliance. There must be no harmful effects regardless of which direction the water falls on the device. |
| 6 | Absolute protection against foreign matter. Absolute protection from contact of any kind. | Protection against water blasted off under pressure on the appliance or state of intense rough sea. There should be no water inlet in the device in a quantity that can cause harmful effects. |
| 7 | N/A | Protection against water when the device is immersed in water, at a certain depth and for a certain period of time. There should be no water inlet in the device in a quantity that can cause harmful effects. |
| 8 | N/A | Protection against water when the device is immersed in water, at a certain depth and for an unlimited period of time. The depth is set by the manufacturer and must be indicated along with the degree of protection. * |
The greater the value of each digit, the greater the protection. For example, if a product has been rated IP66, it has more protection than a product rated IP55.
* Category 8 usually means that the device is waterproof. However,under certain conditions, there may be water in the device, but not in a quantity capable of producing harmful effects.
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