Wireless Hardware and IP Ratings - Does your hardware pass the test?
An often overlooked but very important specification of wireless equipment is its Ingress Protection Rating or "IP Rating". The IP Rating of a piece of hardware is a good indication of how robust it is and how likely (if it is an outdoor unit) it is to survive our rather unpredictable English weather!
IP ratings are also crucial to know when equipment is to be located in harsh indoor environments such as warehouses where there can be lots of dust or cold storage buildings where there is a lot of moisture.
Ingress Protection Ratings are usually written as IPxy (where “x” refers to Solid Particle Protection (expressed as a number between 1 and 6) and "y" refers to Liquid Ingress Protection (expressed as a number between 1 and 8). Effectively, the higher the number, the better the protection offered.
Solid Particle Protection Ratings:
|
Level |
Object size protected against |
Effective against |
|
0 |
— | No protection against contact and ingress of objects |
|
1 |
>50 mm | Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection against deliberate contact with a body part |
|
2 |
>12.5 mm | Fingers or similar objects |
|
3 |
>2.5 mm | Tools, thick wires, etc. |
|
4 |
>1 mm | Most wires, screws, etc. |
|
5 |
Dust protected | Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact |
|
6 |
Dust tight | No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact |
Liquid Ingress Protection Ratings:
|
Level |
Protected against |
Testing for |
Details |
|
0 |
Not protected | — | — |
|
1 |
Dripping water | Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful effect. | Test duration: 10 minutesWater equivalent to 1mm rainfall per minute |
|
2 |
Dripping water when tilted up to 15° | Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15° from its normal position. | Test duration: 10 minutesWater equivalent to 3mm rainfall per minute |
|
3 |
Spraying water | Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect. | Test duration: 5 minutesWater volume: 0.7 litres per minutePressure: 80–100 kN/m² |
|
4 |
Splashing water | Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect. | Test duration: 5 minutesWater volume: 10 litres per minutePressure: 80–100 kN/m² |
|
5 |
Water jets | Water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. | Test duration: at least 3 minutesWater volume: 12.5 litres per minutePressure: 30 kN/m² at distance of 3m |
|
6 |
Powerful water jets | Water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. | Test duration: at least 3 minutesWater volume: 100 litres per minutePressure: 100 kN/m² at distance of 3m |
|
7 |
Immersion up to 1 m | Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion). | Test duration: 30 minutesImmersion at depth of 1m |
|
8 |
Immersion beyond 1 m | The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no harmful effects. | Test duration: continuous immersion in waterDepth specified by manufacturer |