Greetings blog readers, Cronapressman here.
Today's blog page will cover my long term weatherproofing trial. Easy enough for me to claim that the sealing techniques I used previously will give an IP65 rating, here's the real life proof that they work if done correctly. I also wanted to test further than the IP65 standard thus illustrating how robust the method of sealing is.
Note-Cronapress Safezone has been independently tested by a Home Office tester and has been passed to IP65. The testing below is for interest only.
A short length of Safezone has been prepared for this test by securely fixing to a metal base. Wiring plugs were sealed into the Safezone insert as covered on my previous blog. Then finally the strip was illuminated with weatherproof LED,
to all intent and purposes this is a complete working alarm strip.
Connection to a Cronapress PCB Single Zone Controller will enable me to check for water ingress via the E.O.L monitoring function.
Below is a chart illustrating IP standards.
Digit 1
The first digit deals with both the level of protection afforded to people
from moving parts and the degree of protection for the equipment inside from
foreign bodies.
1st Digit
|
Protection against solid objects |
O
|
Not protected |
1
|
Protected against solid objects greater than 50mm (e.g. hands) |
2
|
Protected against solid objects greater than 12mm (e.g.
fingers) |
3
|
Protected against solid objects greater than 2.5mm (e.g. tools) |
4
|
Protected against solid objects greater than 1mm (e.g. wires) |
5
|
Protected against dust (where there is sufficient amount to interfere with
teh satisfactory operation of the equipment) |
6
|
Total protection against dust |
X
|
Indicates that protection against solid objects is not
defined |
Digit 2
The second digit refers to the level of protection provided against various
degrees of moisture such as drips, submersion in water, sprays and so on.
2nd Digit
|
Protection against liquids |
0
|
Not protected |
1
|
Protected against dripping water greater than 50mm (drip proof) |
2
|
Protected against dripping water when titled up to 15° |
3
|
Protected against spraying water (rain proof) |
4
|
Protected against splashing water (splash proof) |
5
|
Protected against water jets from any direction (jet proof) |
6
|
Protected against heavy seas |
7
|
Protected against the effects of immersion between 15cm and 1m |
8
|
Protected against long periods of immersion under
pressure |
So, in most cases external weatherproofing of alarm strips would be aimed at achieving IP65.
Luckily for me I happen to have the perfect watery environment close at hand for my trials!!!! Tranmere Beck runs at the back of the Cronapress Factory, just right for my Safezone submersible to undergo extensive tests..
04/03/2014. - Official launch date
05/03/2014 - Easily surpassed IP65 and now achieving IP67.
The journey into the unknown has begun. I shall keep you posted on progress.
Cronapressman
signing off until next time.
Remember - If it looks right it will be right
! If it doesn't -
you guessed it - it won't !