The International Protection or Ingress Protection (hence IP) system is quite helpful in this regard where complete enclosures are concerned and one has the luxury of a full testing facility on hand – and the time, to test a completed unit. For specialist panel builders however, life is not quite that simple – generally it involves gathering a selection of components and using the professional skills of fitting and assembly to ensure compliance of the finished installation. Our specialists here at FDB Panel Fittings are pleased to offer locks, latches, swinghandles, gaskets and hinges to meet these requirements and to discuss how they may best be packaged and installed.
The key here, is to gather all components suitably rated so that when they are all assembled together the complete installation can be regarded as meeting the IP level required by virtue of all components being to that level individually and each of them fitted to the same level.
So, whether you are looking for the common specifications of IP55 or IP65 or IP66 or for something else, it is important to source hardware of the same rating or otherwise to carefully consider the implications of a different rating. For example, under specifying is an obvious error since the ingress tests will usually find the weakest point in the housing. However, where protection from vertical rain is required then it may be that a feature such as a canopy and in-setting the door can offset the need for an efficient gasket. Less obviously over specifying may also be an error since it may limit the “natural breathing” of a housing, leading to a build-up of internal moisture trapped by a normal heating/cooling cycle. For this reason, an IP55 cabinet may be specified but then require a drain or heater to deal with internal condensation.
