Harsh Environment Solutions START HERE 
Whether it’s extreme heat, blistering winds or toxic chemicals – electronics are more susceptible to damage when operating in harsh environments.
Engineers must account for environmental factors before designing and should choose products with proper qualifications and ratings to protect valuable equipment and personnel.
Understanding Harsh Environment Ratings
IP (Ingress Protection) ratings consist of the letters IP followed by two digits and an optional letter.
The first digit refers to the level of protection against hazardous parts and the ingress of solid foreign objects. The second digit refers to the level of protection against the ingress of water.
This standard provides engineers with more detailed information regarding the protection status of a product than vague terms like waterproof. Below is a brief table outlining some of the common IP ratings that you’ll see across our site. We do offer products with ratings not listed below.
| IP Rating | Water Protection | Dust Protection |
|---|---|---|
| IP65 | Water at 12.5 liters per minute through 6.3mm nozzle from any direction | Total dust ingress protection |
| IP66 | Water at 100 liters per minute through 12.5mm nozzle from any direction | Total dust ingress protection |
| IP67 | Submersion into water up to 1 meter deep for amount of time specified by manufacturer | Total dust ingress protection |
| IP68 | Permanent submersion beyond 1 meter into water of depth stated by manufacturer | Total dust ingress protection |
| IP69K | Water at 80-100MPa (megapascal) and 14-16 liters per minute from four angles while the device is rotated at 5RPM | Total dust ingress protection |
Learn About NEMA Ratings for Enclosures
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) provides a popular standard for protective enclosures. These conditions include ingress of water and foreign objects (e.g. dust or fibers), but go beyond IP code, accounting for corrosive agents and various gases and atmospheres. The table provides a brief description of each level of protection, which NEMA specifies with a NEMA Enclosure Type Number.
Indoor Nonhazardous Locations
This is a brief table outlining the NEMA ratings as related to the use of enclosures in an indoor nonhazardous location.
| Provides a Degree of Protection Against the Following Environmental Conditions | Enclosure NEMA Type | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 4X | 5 | 6 | 6P | 12 | 12K | 13 | ||
| Access to hazardous parts | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Ingress of solid foreign objects (Falling dirt) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Ingress of water (Dripping and light splashing) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Ingress of solid foreign objects (Circulating dust, lint, fibers, and flyings **) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Ingress of solid foreign objects (Settling airborne dust, lint, fibers, and flyings **) | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||
| Ingress of water (Hosedown and splashing water) | x | x | x | x | |||||||
| Oil or coolant seepage | x | x | x | ||||||||
| Oil or coolant spraying and splashing | x | ||||||||||
| Corrosive agents | x | x | |||||||||
| Ingress of water (Occasional temporary submersion) | x | x | |||||||||
| Ingress of water (Occasional prolonged submersion) | x | ||||||||||
Indoor Harsh Environments
Food Processing, Hospitals, Industrial production environments- what do they have in common? They can all be considered Harsh Environments. Personal safety as well as continued operation without down time are all secured by the usage of components designed to operate where others may fail. Newark provides designers, technicians and maintenance personnel with the widest range of Harsh Environment components for usage in all types of production, manufacturing and service industries.
Characteristics:
Newark has a complete lineup of Harsh Environment components including those with the following characteristics:
- Chemical Resistance
- Vibration Resistance
- Expanded Temperature Ranges
- Arc/ Explosion Safety
- Wire & Cable Protection
SDN-C Series
These DIN rail power supplies offer extreme reliability and efficiency, easy troubleshooting and our most resilient design for use in harsh environments, extreme temperatures and hazardous locations.
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E2EX NEXT Series Proximity Sensor
The world’s longest sensing distance plus oil resistance, enables easier and standardized designs previously not possible. Get up to four times the range of standard inductive sensors.
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NBF Series: All Plastic NEMA 4x/IP66 Boxes
All plastic hinged lid polycarbonate or ABS boxes with clear or opaque covers. Choice of indoor or outdoor version, quick mods are available
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IP68 Rated 4300U Series DC Axial Fan
60x25 mm compact fan, fully encapsulated against water and dust, motor protection against reverse polarity/locking, air exhaust over struts
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STEGO CSS 014 Humidity and Temperature Smart Sensor
Electronically records temperature and humidity and converts the measured data into a standardized analog 4-20 mA or digital IO-Link signal
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Varitector Lightning and Surge Protection Solution
The Varitector offers reliable surge protection for your plants energy systems, data interfaces, instrumentation and controls.
Shop NowOutdoor Harsh Environments
It’s a rough world out there. Whether you work in Oil & Gas, Heavy Equipment, Solar Farms or the Marine space, your products and machinery have to be able to handle the elements. Newark is here to support everyone from the designer to the maintenance engineer with the components that assure your products stay operating in the harshest of conditions.
Characteristics:
- IP Rated Connectors & Sensors
- Chemical Resistance
- Vibration Resistance
- NEMA Rated Enclosures
- High Temperature Ranges
- Tri-Rated Cable and Harsh Environment Wire Management Products
NEMA Pushbuttons
Features zinc die cast construction with chrome-plated housing and mounting nut.
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Ty-Rap® Cable Ties
Trust Ty-Rap® High-Performance Cable Ties for Quality, Performance and Innovation. Weather and ultraviolet resistant for outdoor use provides superior performance in any application.
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PX3005 Series
The PX3005 Industrial, rangeable pressure transmitters are ideal for monitoring pressures in automation, hydraulic systems, compressors, pumps and in tank level applications. Designed with a rugged enclosure to accommodate heavy industrial environments.
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NEMA Rated Enclosures
L-com offers one of the most extensive selections of NEMA-rated enclosures in the industry. These can be used for wired, wireless and industrial networking applications, indoors/outdoors and come with options for heating, cooling, venting, and internal power requirements
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Heavy Duty Connectors (HDC)
These are designed to deliver reliable performance under the most demanding operating and environmental conditions. Mainly used for data, signal, or power connection between different devices or functional units, the modular and standard interface can maximize application efficiency.
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Modern-Style IP68 Polycarbonate Enclosure
Hammond’s 1557 Series offer IP68 protection and versatility. They can be used on a tabletop or two different wall-mount configurations.
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White Papers & Application Notes
- Hammond Guide for Choosing the Right Enclosure
- Bulgin Maintaining interconnectivity in the harshest of environments
- BUD NEMA 4 Enclosures Buyer’s Guide
- Banner How To Interpret the Ratings and Choose the Right Sensor
- Bulgin What Makes a Harsh Connector?
- L-Com Enclosure Brochure
- Omega How to use a pressure transmitter
Videos
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