IEC 60945 vs IP Ratings: Understanding Ingress Protection for Marine Data Equipment

What is IEC 60945?

IEC 60945 defines environmental, mechanical, and durability requirements for marine equipment used on vessels operating in demanding conditions. It forms the basis of MED / SOLAS Type Approval.

Testing under IEC 60945 includes:

• Water ingress and spray resistance
• Protection against solid objects
• Temperature extremes
• Vibration and mechanical stress
• Salt atmosphere exposure

IEC 60945 Environmental Categories

IEC 60945 classifies equipment by installation location, with environmental and ingress protection requirements appropriate to each category:

• Portable – hand-held or temporary equipment
• Protected from the weather – sheltered or internal installations
• Exposed to the weather – open decks or external locations
• Submerged – equipment intended for continuous contact with seawater

Marine Data Heading Repeaters are certified for either Protected or Exposed installation categories, depending on the product.

Ingress Protection under IEC 60945

IEC 60945 references IEC 60529 (IP Code) but applies protection requirements by environmental category:

• All equipment must meet at least IP2X equivalent for protection against solid objects
• Protected area equipment must meet at least IP2X equivalent
• Exposed area equipment must pass the IEC 60945 Rain and Spray test
  (functionally equivalent to IPX6, but carried out for a longer duration under marine conditions)
• Portable equipment must meet the equivalent of IPX7
• Submerged equipment must pass a 600 kPa submerged pressure test

Marine Data Design Levels

While IEC 60945 defines minimum environmental requirements, Marine Data products are designed to exceed those minimums:

Important Note on Protected Area Equipment and IP54 Design

Marine Data’s Protected Area devices, such as the MD73HR, are certified for use in Protected installation environments in accordance with MED / SOLAS and IEC 60945.

While IEC 60945 requires only a basic level of ingress protection for Protected Area equipment, Marine Data products are designed to provide an additional degree of environmental resilience. As such, Protected Area devices are designed to meet the basic requirements of IP54, in order to protect against situations where occasional or accidental exposure to liquids may occur.

This design provision is intended to offer protection against incidental splashing or limited liquid exposure, and does not imply suitability for installation in locations where regular, expected, or intentional exposure to water may occur.

The front panel apertures and controls of Marine Data’s Protected Area devices are generally sealed using O-rings or gaskets, providing a higher level of water resistance at the front face compared to the
side or rear surfaces. Where devices are panel mounted, the use of a suitable mounting gasket or sealing compound between the device and the mounting panel may further improve environmental resilience. However, this does not change the installation classification of the equipment or make it suitable for locations where water exposure is expected or intended.

Where a repeater is to be installed in a location subject to regular or intentional exposure to water,
a certified Exposed Area device should be selected – refer to the table below:

Example: Heading Repeater Environmental Classification and Ingress Protection Levels

Key Points

• IEC 60945 already includes ingress protection testing aligned with IP ratings
• Protection is defined by installation environment, not a single IP number
• Marine Data products are Type Approved to IEC 60945
• Marine Data products are designed beyond minimum requirements for real shipboard use