Ingress protection testing tests the level of protection an enclosure provides against intrusions. Two such sets of ingress protection tests involve exposing the equipment under test (EUT), to water jets and powerful water jets. These tests are numbered IPX5 and IPX6. The first digit, represented by the “X”, ranges from 0 to 6 and specifies the protection from solid particles. The second digit, in the case of water jets, would always be a 5, and in the case of powerful water jets, would always be a 6. Therefore, IP55 vs IP56 differ because one uses water jets and the other uses powerful water jets.

Below is a brief description of IPX5 and IPX6 testing as detailed in IEC 60529:

IPX5 Water Jet Testing:

• Defined as water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm).
• The requirement is that the equipment under test (EUT), shall experience no harmful effects from the water being sprayed against the enclosure from any direction.
• The test details include a test duration of at least three minutes, water volume of 12.5 liters per minute and pressure of 30 kN/m² at distance of three meters.

IPX6 Powerful Water Jet Testing:

• Defined as water projected by a nozzle (12.5mm).
• The requirement is that the equipment under test (EUT), shall experience no harmful effects from the water being sprayed against the enclosure from any direction.
• The test details include a test duration of at least three minutes, water volume of 100 liters per minute and pressure of 100 kN/m² at distance of three meters.

For a complete list of all of the possible IPX5 and IPX6 ingress protection code combinations from IEC 60529, please see the chart at the bottom of this page.

Below is a list of all of the IPX5 and IPX6 IP Code combinations along with a brief description of each test: