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• IP protection ratings chart
  Posted by Ian on 15/10/08

  IP actually stands for "International Protection", although many people like me thought it stood for Ingress Protection (which is actually far more accurate in its description!!).  It is part of AS1939-1086.

  So any IP rating is made up of two numbers.  Let's call this:
  

  IPab

  The first number, a, refers to protection of persons against access (like touching dangerous parts), and against the entry of objects from large down to dust sized into a system. Here is a list of meanings for a:
  

  X - unspecified (or untested)
  

  0 - no special protection provided
  

  1 - prevents a human hand, and objects larger than 50mm in smallest dimension from accessing any dangerous parts
  

  2 - prevents human fingers, and objects larger than 12mm in smallest dimension from accessing any dangerous parts
  

  3 - prevents objects larger than 2.5mm in smallest dimension from accessing any dangerous parts
  

  4  - prevents objects larger than 1mm in smallest dimension from accessing any dangerous parts
  

  5 - prevents entry of dust from interfering with normal operation of the equipment
  

  6 - complete prevention of the entry of dust
  

   

  The second number, b, refers to protection of the equipment against water ingress. Here is a list of meanings for b:
  

  X - unspecified (or untested)
  

  0 - no special protection
  

  1 -  protection against vertically dripping water
  

  2 - as 1, but still protected even when the device is tilted at 15° from the horizontal
  

  3 - as 1, but still protected even when the device is tilted at 60° from the horizontal, and when the water is sprayed rather than just dripped
  

  4 - protects against water splashed or sprayed from all directions
  

  5 - protects against a low-pressure jet of water from any direction
  

  6 - protects against a strong jet of water from any direction, and against heavy seas
   

  6D - protects against a driving rain from any direction down to the horizontal
  

  7 - protection against immersion with the highest part of the unit no more than 15cm below the surface, and the lowest part of the unit no deeper than 1 metre
   

  8 - protection against submersion, depth must be specified separately (but is always more stringent than level 7!)
  

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