What is IP65?

What is IP65?

The International Protection Rating is known as ‘Ingress Protection Rating’, is an international standard used to describe the environmental protection of electrical equipment or enclosures for electrical equipment. International standard EN 60529 (British BS EN 60529:1992, European IEC 60509:1989). IP65 is the level of protection defined by the two digit number.

The standard is designed to give more information about the level of protection other than merely stating the equipment is “water-proof” and is normally expressed as a two digit number. The first number indicates the level of protection against the ingression of solid objects and the second digit indicates the level of protection against the ingression of liquids. Note: If the IP rating shows an ‘X’ then there is no level of protection for that specific category.

IP66 – The first digit (6) indicates the camera is dust tight giving complete protection against any solid matter entering the equipment.  The second digit (5) indicates Protected from low pressure water jets from any direction.

IP protection and what it means

As defined in international standard IEC 60529, it classifies the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (including body parts like hands and fingers), dust, accidental contact, and water in electrical enclosures. The standard aims to provide users more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as waterproof or Weather Resistant.

What is IP65 ratings mean?

1st digit denotes intrusion protection:

0. 0. No special protection. Not rated for protection against ingress of this type.
   1. Protection from a large part of the body such as a hand, but no protection from a deliberate access. No protection from solid objects greater than 50mm in diameters.
   2. Protection against fingers or other objects not greater than 80mm in length and 12mm in diameters, eg. accidental finger contact.
   3. Protection from entry by tools, wires etc, with a diameter of 2.5 mm or more.
   4. Protection against solid objects larger than 1mm. Eg., wires, nails, screws, larger insects and other potentially invasive small objects such as tools/small etc.
   5. Partial protection against dust that may harm equipment.
   6. Totally dust tight. Full protection against dust and other particulates, including a vacuum seal, tested against continuous airflow.

2nd digit denotes moisture protection:

0. No protection.
1. Protection against vertically falling droplets, such as condensation. ensuring that no damage or interrupted functioning of components will be incurred when an item is upright.
2. Protection against water droplets deflected up to 15° from vertical
3. Protected against spray up to 60° from vertical.
4. Protected against water splashes from all directions. Tested for a minimum of 10 minutes with an oscillating spray (limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects).
5. Protection against low-pressure jets (6.3 mm) of directed water from any angle (limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects).
6. Protection against direct high pressure jets.
7. Protection against full immersion for up to 30 minutes at depths between 15 cm and 1 metre (limited ingress permitted with no harmful effects).
8. Protection against extended immersion under higher pressure (i.e. greater depths). Precise parameters of this test will be set and advertised by the manufacturer and may include additional factors such as temperature fluctuations and flow rates, depending on equipment type.
9. (K): Protection against high-pressure, high-temperature jet sprays, wash-downs or steam-cleaning procedures – this rating is most often seen in specific road vehicle applications (standard ISO 20653:2013 Road Vehicles – Degrees of protection).

• IP65 Enclosure: IP rated as “dust tight” and protected against water projected from a nozzle.
• IP66 Enclosure: IP rated as “dust tight” and protected against heavy seas or powerful jets of water.
• IP 67 Enclosures: IP rated as “dust tight” and protected against immersion. for 30 minutes at depths 150mm – 1000mm
• IP 68 Enclosures: IP rated as “dust tight” and protected against complete, continuous submersion in water.

References:
1. IEC 60529, “degrees of Protection Provided by Enclosures (IP Codes),” Ed. 2.1 (Geneva: International Electrotechnical Commision, 2011)
2. IEC 60529 (Ed. 2.1), clause 4.1.

3. The Enclosure Company