What does IP44 rating actually mean ?

johnny_t · 13 Dec 2005

I have purchased a rope light Star of Bethlehem to seal my position as village nuisance, and also to celebrate the birth of Santa but the good people at Homebase have made the attached mains cable far too short to be of any use to anyone.

The controller box (flash, steady, off) is marked IP44, and the sticker around the cable says only that the plug should be indoors. The box that the whole lot came in however says that the controller should be indoors as well.

Whether the controller goes inside or outside is going to change my strategy for extending the cable, so all advice gratefully received.....

Adam_151 · 13 Dec 2005

http://www.aquatext.com/tables/ip_ratings.htm

crystal ball · 13 Dec 2005

Protected against solid objects greater than 1mm - 1st digit

Protected against splashing water from any direction - 2nd digit

johnny_t · 13 Dec 2005

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but does rain count as spray ??

Spark123 · 13 Dec 2005

IPX3 is Rain proof, IP44 has a higher dergee of protection.

Rain proof:-
Water falling as rain at any angle up to 60 degrees from vertical shall have no harmful effect.

johnny_t · 13 Dec 2005

Cool - I'll run a longer cable into the controller then, rather than having a join somewhere.........

Lectrician · 13 Dec 2005

Aslong as you maintain the IP44 rating when joining into the controler....is it not easier to simply lengthen the flex you have?

Gewiss boxes are ideal, with dome top TRS glands....I always have a stock of 4x4x2 gewiss boses, and dome top TRS's! (along with loads of CW20s glands.....)

ban-all-sheds · 13 Dec 2005

Get something like these:

supersparks · 13 Dec 2005

johnny_t said:
I have purchased a rope light Star of Bethlehem to seal my position as village nuisance, and also to celebrate the birth of Santa
all advice gratefully received.....

santas birthday

crystal ball · 13 Dec 2005

I thought it was Noel Edmunds birthday

johnny_t · 13 Dec 2005

Now I can keep the controller outside, I might just be able to get the plug inside. Failing that, I'm leaning towards a BAS-style box.

My guess is that Homebase put the 'box inside' instruction on the packaging to cover themselves, just in case the QA at their cheap chinese electrical factory fell below the high standards you would normally expect from such an establishment.....

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What does IP44 rating actually mean ?

supersparks

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