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IP Ingress Protection Ratings

IP - Ingress Protection rating is used to specify the environmental protection of electrical equipment

Ingress Protection (IP) ratings are developed by the European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization (CENELEC) (described IEC/EN 60529), specify the environmental protection an enclosure provides.

The IP rating normally has two (or three) numbers:
• Protection from solid objects or materials
• Protection from liquids
• Protection against mechanical impacts (commonly omitted)

With the IP rating IP 54, 5 describes the level of protection from solid objects and 4 describes the level of protection from liquids.

IP First number - Protection against solid objects
0 - No protection.
1 - Protected against solid objects up to 50mm, e.g. accidental touch by hands.
2 - Protected against solid objects up to 12mm, e.g. fingers.
3 - Protected against solid objects over 2.5mm (tools and wires).
4 - Protected against solid objects over 1mm (tools, wire, 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 15° from the vertical.
3 - Protected against direct sprays of water up to 60° from the vertical.
4 - Protection against water sprayed from all directions Ð limited ingress permitted.
5 - Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions Ð limited ingress.
6 - Protected against low pressure jets of water, e.g. for use on ship decks - limited ingress permitted.
7 - Protected against the effect of immersion between 15cm and 1m.
8 - Protects against long periods of immersion under pressure.

IP Third number - Protection against mechanical impacts (commonly omitted)
0 - No protection.
1 - Protects against impact of 0.225 joule (e.g. 150g weight falling from 15cm height).
2 - Protected against impact of 0.375 joule (e.g. 250g weight falling from 15cm height).
3 - Protected against impact of 0.5 joule (e.g. 250g weight falling from 20cm height).
4 - Protected against impact of 2.0 joule (e.g. 500g weight falling from 40cm height).
5 - Protected against impact of 6.0 joule (e.g. 1.5kg weight falling from 40cm height).
6 - Protected against impact of 20.0 joule (e.g. 5kg weight falling from 40cm height).

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