What IK rating should you look for in an impact-resistant enclosure?
Short answer
To protect electrical equipment from rough environments, vandalism or other mechanical impacts, look for a high impact protection, or IK, rating. IK is a 00 to 10 code system defined by the DIN EN 50102 (VDE 0470-100) standards. The lowest values mean the product offers limited to no resistance to impact energy, while IK10 means the enclosure is protected against 20 joule impacts, equivalent to a 5 kg mass dropped from 400 mm above the impacted surface. The North American equivalent is f1 or f2 certification to UL 746C. We offer enclosures from IK05 to IK10.
When you need enclosures that protect electrical equipment from rough environments, vandalism or other mechanical impacts, select a solution with a high impact protection, or IK, rating.
This is a 00 to 10 code system defined by the DIN EN 50102 (VDE 0470-100) standards. The lowest values mean that the product offers limited to no resistance to impact energy levels, while IK10 indicates that the enclosure is protected against 20 joule impacts. This is equivalent to the impact of a 5 kg mass dropped from 400 mm above the impacted surface.
An equivalent rating for North American customers is the f1 or f2 certification in accordance with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 746C requirements. In this case, the equipment is hit by a steel ball with a diameter of 50.8 mm and a weight of 0.535 kg.
We offer electrical enclosures with IK and UL ratings to support even the most demanding applications, where the equipment is exposed to mechanical stress. In particular, we can address IK05 to IK10 requirements with multiple solutions to suit different environmental conditions.
Our assembly and installation notes give further information on enclosure protection against mechanical stress and IK codes: https://www.spelsberg.com/service/technical-information/technical-information/assembly-and-installation-notes/
The necessary DIN EN/VDE and UL tests to ensure compliance are performed by our quality specialists at our in-house test laboratory, which you can read more about at https://www.spelsberg.co.uk/customising/testing-laboratory/testing-according-to-vde-and-ul/ The laboratory is fully certified according to DIN EN 60670-1, 60670-22, 60529 and UL standards, and verifies the mechanical resistance of our products as well as many other properties, including ingress and heat protection.
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