The IP56 Housing Standing For Outside Equipment

IP 5-6 is a ranking for enclosures which are subject to a variety of climate conditions. This can be a standard produced by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and is really a global standard. In-the U.S., the National Electrical Manufacturers ASsociation (NEMA) sets related standards.IEC Ingress Protection StandardsThe IEC features a published standard 60529, which defines Ingress Protection employing a two digit code. This standard has all the details about screening and applications.The first digit indicates the protection against use of dangerous sections and whether solid objects will get to the encolosure outdoor shop kiel. In other words, how difficult is it to stick your finger inside and trigger some trouble.The second digit shows the total amount of security against water.Here are the designations for the first digit - Hazardous Parts:0 - Non-protected 1 - Protected against access with the rear of-the hand (50mm size item ) 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 wire (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 equal 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 tilted around 15d 3 - Spraying water, upt to 60d angle 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 waterYou can see that the IP56 rated enclosure is protected against dust (and other tiny particles) and is water tight against jetting water from any direction.