What is an Ingress Protection Rating (IP rating)?
The Ingress Protection Rating, also referred to as IP code or IP rating is an international standard which indicates the sealing effectiveness of mechanical housings against water and dust. The IP rating consists of "IP" followed by two digits, for example IP65. The first digit indicates solid particle protection and the second digit protection against liquid ingress. A higher digit denotes higher level of protection.
The IP rating is published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the international standard IEC 60529.
Solid Particle Protection (First Digit):
- 0: No protection against solid objects.
- 1: Protection against solid objects larger than 50 mm (e.g., the back of the hand).
- 2: Protection against solid objects larger than 12.5 mm (e.g., fingers).
- 3: Protection against solid objects larger than 2.5 mm (e.g., tools and wires).
- 4: Protection against solid objects larger than 1 mm (e.g., small tools and wires).
- 5: Dust protected (limited ingress of dust is permitted, but it must not interfere with the equipment's operation).
- 6: Dust-tight (no ingress of dust is permitted).
Liquid Protection (Second Digit):
- 0: No protection against liquids.
- 1: Protection against vertically falling drops of water or condensation.
- 2: Protection against vertically falling drops of water when the enclosure is tilted up to 15 degrees.
- 3: Protection against spraying water at an angle of up to 60 degrees from the vertical.
- 4: Protection against splashing water from any direction.
- 5: Protection against water jets from any direction.
- 6: Protection against powerful water jets or heavy seas.
- 7: Protection against temporary immersion in water (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes).
- 8: Protection against continuous immersion in water under specified conditions
- 9: Protection against high pressure and temperature water jets.
Differences between IP65, IP66 & IP67
Typically security cameras are dust tight and protected against waterjets (IP65) or protected against powerful waterjets (IP66) or protected against the temporary immersion in water (IP67).
Other Ratings
It's important to note that the IP rating system does not cover other elements such as mechanical impact resistance or resistance to other forms of environmental stress. These factors may be specified separately using different standards or ratings such as the IK Code, which is an international standard that describes the degree of protection of a housing against mechanical impact.