New IEC 60529 Consolidated Edition for IP Code

IEC 60529, “Degrees of protection provided by enclosures (IP Code),” describes a way to classify the degrees of protection provided by the enclosures of electrical equipment.  It was written to promote more uniformity in the description of enclosures, the testing of various degrees of protection, and to reduce the number of tests and test devices required over a wide range of products.

A new Amendment 2 to the 2nd Edition has just been released.  Here at Document Center Inc., we are selling this standard as both the stand-alone amendment and as a consolidated Edition 2.2.  You have your choice when purchasing the document to get just the new 24 page Amendment.  If you do this, you’ll need to make the pen-and-ink changes to the text of your 2nd Edition by hand.  Or you can get a consolidated edition which interfiles all the changes, marked in red for your convenience.

The amendment itself is in both English and French.  It introduces a new degree of protection numbered IP X9 for a test with a spray nozzle.  None of the other pre-existing degrees are changed in any way.  Because of this, you will not have to do any additional testing or make any further modifications of any certificates you currently hold to conform to this standard.

You’ll find a new subclause 14.2.9 for this new test as well as 6 new figures:

• Figure 7, Fan jet nozzle dimensions
• Figure 8, Fan jet nozzle resulting dimensions of spraying hole for checking purpose
• Figure 9, Fan jet nozzle examples
• Figure 10, Set-up for measuring the impact force of the water jet for determining the protection against high-pressure and temperature water jet, degree of protection against ingress of water IP X9
• Figure 11, Impact force distribution
• Figure 12, Test device to verify protection against high pressure and temperature water jet for small enclosures

The introduction of a new IP affects a number of tables and some of the text of IEC 60529.  All in all, there are 8 pages with actual changes you’ll need to make to your document should you prefer to use just the amendment only.  Also, do remember that you either need the consolidated Edition 2.1 plus the new Amendment 2 or the original Edition 2.0 plus both Amendment 1 and Amendment 2.

Document Center Inc. is an authorized reseller of IEC standards.  You can purchase them in paper format or for pdf download at our web store, www.document-center.com.  Of course, if you prefer personal attention, have questions, or just like working with us directly, you can reach us by phone (650-591-7600), fax (650-591-7617) or email (info@document-center.com).  We have many services that will support your use of this standard.  Make us your Standards Experts.