The IP56 Housing Standing For Outside Equipment

IP 56 can be a ranking for enclosures which are susceptible to a number of weather conditions. This can be a standard developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and is a worldwide standard. In the U.S., the National Electrical Manufacturers ASsociation (NEMA) sets similar standards.IEC Ingress Protection StandardsThe IEC features a published standard 60529, which describes Ingress Protection utilizing a two digit code outdoor neumuenster. This standard has all the information about testing and applications.The first digit indicates the protection against use of harmful areas and whether solid objects can get to the encolosure. In other words, how hard is it to stick your finger inside and trigger some trouble.The second digit indicates the amount of protection against water.Here are the designations for the first digit - Hazardous Parts:0 - Non-protected 1 - Protected against access with the trunk of the hand (50mm size object ) 2 - Protected against access with jointed finger (12 mm x 80 mm ) 3 - Protected against acess with a tool (2.5 mm ) 4, 5, 6 - Protected against access with a cord (1.0 mm )Here are the designations for the first digit - Solid Foreign Objects:0 - Non-protected 1 - Objects greater than 50mm 2 - Objects greater than 12.5 mm 3 - Objects greater than 2.5 4 - Objects greater than or corresponding to 1mm 5 - Dust protected 6 - Dust tightProtection designation for the second digit - Ingress of Liquids0 - Non-protected 1 - Water dripping vertically 2 - Water dripping, enclosure moved around 15d 3 - Spraying water, upt to 60d position from vertical 4 - Splashing water, any direction 5 - Jetting water, any direction 6 - Powerful jetting water, any direction 7 - Temporary immersion in water 8 - Continuous immersion in water-you can see that an IP56 scored enclosure is protected against dust (and other small particles) and is water tight against jetting water from any direction.