IP requirement for electrical equipment intended for outdoor in Europe

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LMAO

Senior Member
Location
Texas
Like the title say, is there a hard IP requirement for electrical equipment intended to be used outdoor in Europe. In other words, if an electrical equipment (say an electrical enclosure) has a CE mark, should one automatically assume the enclosure alone has at least a certain IP rating? Like IP54?

Thank you
 

AdrianWint

Senior Member
Location
Midlands, UK
Assume - Nope.

CE Mark & IP rating, although they go hand in hand you cant assume that because it has a CE mark it will have an IP.

I would say absolute minimum for outdoor in the UK would be IP44
 

LMAO

Senior Member
Location
Texas
Assume - Nope.

CE Mark & IP rating, although they go hand in hand you cant assume that because it has a CE mark it will have an IP.

I would say absolute minimum for outdoor in the UK would be IP44
OK, so the minimum ingress protection is somewhat subjective, and there is no absolute minimum for outdoor use?
 

Besoeker3

Senior Member
Location
UK
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
OK, so the minimum ingress protection is somewhat subjective, and there is no absolute minimum for outdoor use?
The ingress protection is perfectly defined. Most engineers know what's applicable but I have seen a few eejits who don't seem to understand sense.
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
IP54 would be considered minimum in most circles, 55 is better, 65 is common. Many "cheat sheets" published by enclosure mfrs will list IP14 as the equivalent of NEMA 3R, and that may be true because technically 3Rprovides NO protection against dust, but most enclosure mfrs don't bother making an IP14 enclosure.

That said, unlike UL/NEMA ratings we use here, there is not specific call out for "outdoor use" like we have for NEMA / UL Type 3 and 4. It's assumed that an engineer will understand that the type of environmental corrosive exposure is a separate issue worthy of careful consideration, not just a numbers game.
 
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