What do the Waterproof Ratings for Electronic Equipment mean?
A two-digit number (as specified in Australian Standards AS60529 and EN60529) is used to provide an IP Rating to a piece of electronic equipment or to an enclosure for electronic equipment.
The two digits represent two different forms of environmental influence:
- The first digit represents protection against ingress of solid objects
- The second digit represents protection against ingress of liquids
The larger the value of each digit, the greater the protection from that influence. As an example, a product such as the Icom IC-M33 is rated IPX7, which would be better protected against environmental factors than another similar product that was only rated as IP54.
|
Value
|
First Digit
Protection against ingress of solids |
Second Digit
Protection against ingress of liquids |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | No protection | No Protection |
| 1 | Protected against solid objects over 50mm e.g. hands, large tools | Protected against vertically falling drops of water. |
| 2 | Protected against solid objects over 12mm e.g. hands, large tools | Protected against direct sprays of water up to 15° from vertical. |
| 3 | Protected against solid objects over 2.5mm e.g. wire, small tools | Protected against direct sprays of water up to 60° from vertical. |
| 4 | Protected against solid objects over 1.0mm e.g. wires | Protected against water sprayed from any direction. Limited ingress permitted. |
| 5 | Limited protection against dust ingress (no harmful deposit) | Protected against low pressure water jets from any direction. Limited ingress permitted. |
| 6 | Totally protected against dust ingress. | Protected against high pressure water jets from any direction. Limited ingress permitted. |
| 7 | X | Protected against immersion between 15cm and 1M. |
| 8 | X | Protected against long periods of immersion under pressure. |