IP Rating

Various products indicate the degree of IP protection, such as IPX55, IPX7, etc. The numbers indicate a specific certification for the product which refers to how waterproof and protected it is.

The initials IP stand for "Ingress Protection", meaning that the product has protection against environmental factors such as dust, particles, water etc.

There are products which need to be absolutely waterproof such as e.g. waterproof mobile phone cases for those involved in water sports. With proper certification and proper marking, we are able to know exactly how waterproof our product is, not that it is waterproof in general and vague terms.

More specifically, a product can be waterproof when splashed (eg, a backpack) but not waterproof when submerged in water. The same goes for a speaker, which may be splash-proof but not submerged in water.

The certification is given after a test carried out in laboratories, according to specific procedures. These procedures follow a certain standard so that they are always the same, regardless of the product or manufacturer.

The IPXX coding has 2 digits which take specific values and inform about the certification of the product. If one of the digits has the value X, it means that it has not been checked for that protection. This is not necessarily negative, since in some products we may only be interested in one of the two protections.

The first X ranges from 1 to 6 and certifies protection against solid foreign objects

0: No protection.
1: Protection from objects over 50mm.
2: Protection from objects over 12mm.
3: Protection from objects over.
4: Protection from objects over.
5: There is not so much dust entering as to affect the normal operation of the device (2-8 hours).
6: No dust at all (2-8 hours).

The second X ranges from 1 to 8 and certifies protection against liquids.

0: No protection..
1: Drops falling vertically do not enter.
2: Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no unsafe effect on the specimen when mounted in .
3: Drops falling at an angle of up to 60 degrees from the vertical.
4: Water sprayed from all directions does not enter.
5: No water entering under pressure from all directions.
6: No water enters from a temporary flood.
7: No water enters a transient draft (for a certain pressure and time period).
8: No water enters a permanent draft (at a certain pressure).

 

The higher the scale, the more resistant the product to wear and tear. For example, a speaker with an IP68 rating has maximum protection against damage.