Posted by Peter Kennedy on 2/27/2018 to
Electrical Standards
IP stands for Ingress Protection and indicates the degree of protection provided by an enclosure. The rating is always a two digit number. The first digit refers to protection from dust and solid particles, the second digit refers to protection from water. The dust scale goes from 0 to 6 and the water scale goes from 0 to 9. A rating of IP00 has no protection against dust and water and a rating of IP69 has the maximum protection.
A fuller description of the ratings is available on Wikipedia and what follows is just a summary which I have interpreted to make it easier to read:
First Digit - Dust Protection
0 No protection
1 Protection against something bigger than a hand
2 Protection against something bigger than a finger
3 Protection against something bigger than a screwdriver
4 Protection against something bigger than a wire
5 Protected against dust
6 Completely sealed
Second Digit - Water Protection
0 No protection
1 Drip protection
2 Drip protection when slightly tilted
3 Limited protection from sprayed water
4 Limited protection from splashing in any direction
5 Limited protection from jets of water
6 Protection from powerful jets of water
7 Protection from immersion for a limited time
8 Protection from immersion for an extended time
9 Protection from powerful high temperature water jets
Peter Kennedy has been in business since 1991 designing, installing and servicing marine electrical systems. The purpose of this blog is to offer support to both professional installers and do-it-yourself boat owners who wish to undertake this work themselves.
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