What is IP68? IP Ratings Explained

What is an IP rating?

IP stands for 'Ingress Protection'.
This is a rating system set forth by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to inform consumers of how well protected an electronic device is against foreign bodies.
In many environments electronical devices must stand rough conditions and work for their intended period of time nevertheless they are set out to dirt, dust and humidity. IP rating define, how and where they can be used without getting a safety risk. Specially in medical areas the safety is very important for the device and all above for the patients.
 An IP rating actually tells you two things about the device it's attributed to - how well it resists water ingress, and how well it resists dust ingress.

 

What do the numbers in an IP Rating mean?

This two-stage rating is what the two numbers following the 'IP' part stand for.
The first number always corresponds to how resistant to solid objects the device is, right down to and including dust, while the second number relates to its level of water resistance.
Perhaps confusingly, the two scales are configured a little differently. For starters, dust resistance is marked from 0 to 6, while water resistance goes from 0 to 9.
In general, the higher the number the better. However, the water rating operates slightly differently beyond IPX6. Just because a device has secured a 7 or 8 on the liquid ingress side of things, doesn't mean it's automatically been tested for IPs 1 through to 6.

The following table shows the different IP ratings:

IP	Characteristic 1 for protection against contact	IP	Characteristic 2 for waterproofing
0	No special protection	0	No waterproofing
1	Protection from solid objects greater than 50mm in diameter	1	Protection from dripping water
2	Protection from object not greater than 12mm in diameter	2	Protection from vertically dripping water (tilted up to 15°)
3	Protection from object not greater than 2,5mm in diameter	3	Protection from sprayed water (tilted up to 60°)
4	Protection from object not greater than 1mm in diameter	4	Protection from splashed water
5	Complete protection against contact, Protection against dust deposit	5	Protection from water projected from a nozzle
6	Complete protection against contact, Protection from infiltration of dust	6	Protection against heavy seas, or powerful jets of water.
7		7	Protection against immersion
8		8	Protection against complete, continuous submersion in water.
9		9	Protection against the ingress of water form all directions even under greatly high pressure on the housing. (High-pressure/steam cleaner, 80-100 bar)

IP68