Type 1. General Purpose: For general purpose applications indoors and where atmospheric conditions are normal, designed to prevent accidental contact with current carrying parts of the equipment. A Type 1 enclosure serves as a protection against dust and light, undirected splashing, but is not dust-tight.
Type 2. Drip Tight: Similar to general purpose type, with shields added to protect against dripping. Construction as to exclude falling moisture or dirt. A Type 2 enclosure is suitable for application where condensation may be severe such as is encountered in cooling rooms or laundries.
Type 3. Weather Resistant: For use where exposed to rain or sleet and on docks, canal locks and in subways or tunnels.
Type 4. Watertight: For use outdoors or where equipment might be subjected to splashing, dripping or hose directed stream of water. A Type 4 enclosure is suitable for application outdoors on ship docks and in dairies, breweries, etc.
Type 5. Dust-Tight: Prevents entry of dusts into controllers used in such non-hazardous areas as cement mills, steel mills and coke plants, where dust or lint would interfere with the operation of the controller.
Type 6. Submersible: For use where the unit might be submerged in water, as in mines, quarries and manholes.
Type 7. Hazardous Locations: For use in Class I, Groups A, B, C or D hazardous locations containing gases. Divisions I and II are included.
Type 8. Hazardous Locations: Similar to Type 7 except that the contacts are immersed in oil. Intended for use for hazardous gases are corrosive.
Type 9. Hazardous Dust-Tight: For use in Class II, Groups E, F or G hazardous locations such as flour mills, grain elevators or textile mills.
Type 10. Bureau of Mines: For use in coal mines. This enclosure is designed to meet the explosion-proof requirements of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. It is suitable for use in gaseous mines.
Type 12. Industrial Use: Enclosures designed for use in automotive and other industrial plants, to protect equipment against dirt and oil by preventing seepage of infiltration and keeping lint fibers and flyings out of the controller. This type of enclosure has found wide application as a substitute for Type 1 enclosures and is mandatory in the JIC Electrical Standards for Industrial Equipment.
IP (or “Ingress Protection”) ratings are defined in international standard EN 60529 (British BS EN 60529:1992, European IEC 60509:1989). They are used to define levels of sealing effectiveness of electrical enclosures against intrusion from foreign bodies (tools, dirt etc) and moisture.
The numbers that follow IP each have a specific meaning. The first indicates the degree of protection (of people) from moving parts, as well as the protection of enclosed equipment from foreign bodies. The second defines the protection level that the enclosure enjoys from various forms of moisture (drips, sprays, submersion etc). The tables below should help make sense of it:
A number replaced by x indicates that the enclosure is not rated for that spec.
Not an entirely valid IP rating, but still occasionally seen on websites offering enclosures (but more commonly lighting). The “x” simply denotes that the value for that number is missing. You can replace it with a zero, assuming that it has not ingress protection rating. This may not be the case, but better safe than sorry. The first number denotes foreign body ingress protection, the second moisture. So “x”5 for example, means that there is no defined protection from solid objects, but protection against low pressure water jets, while 5″x” would denote partial protection from dust, but no particular protection from moisture.
While we cover a huge range of electrical enclosures, our most common IP ratings are probably 65, 66, 67 and 68. So for quick reference, these are defined below:
