A Brief Overview of Ingress Protection (IP) Ratings
IP ratings are used to define the degree of protection of electrical enclosures against intrusion from foreign bodies such as dust, water, dirt and moisture. These ratings are published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
IP ratings consist of a two-digit code, with each digit representing the protection range. The higher the number, the greater the protection.
IP69K: Taking a Deeper Dive
In applications where devices were regularly exposed to high-pressure or high-temperature wash downs, the highest ratings of IP68 were sometimes found to be insufficient. Therefore, a special rating was created by ISO to test this intensive form of cleaning. The IP Ratings Code, also known as IEC 60529, has since adopted this degree of protection and labeled it labeled as IP69.
Testing procedure per ISO 20653:
- Close distance spray: 10-15 cm
- Very hot water: 80°C/176°F
- High pressure: 1160-1450 psi
- Turntable rotation: 5 rpm
Only if the device passes this test can it be considered IP69K rated and be used with confidence in harsh environments with high pressure, steam cleaning.
