IPrating

IPrating, commonly referred to as an IP rating or ingress protection rating, is a standardized system for describing how well an enclosure resists intrusion by solid objects and liquids. The scheme is defined by IEC 60529 and is widely used on electrical equipment, consumer devices, and industrial machinery to communicate protection levels to users and inspectors.

A rating consists of the letters IP followed by two protection codes. The first code indicates protection against solid objects; the second code indicates protection against liquids. The solids code ranges from 0 (no protection) to 6 (dust-tight). The liquids code ranges from 0 to 9, with 9K used in some standards to denote protection against high-pressure, high-temperature water jets. Common examples include IP54 (dust-protected and splash-resistant) and IP67 (dust-tight and protection against immersion in water). The IP69K variant denotes protection against powerful water jets at close range and is used in some markets, notably automotive wash-down.

Some regional or industry variants append a K after the second code to indicate high-pressure wash-down testing (as in IP69K). It is important to recognize that an IP rating refers to enclosure protection and not to the overall safety of the device or its internal components. Ratings are determined by standardized test methods and are typically verified by independent laboratories or manufacturer documentation before labeling.