Environmental & Reliability Testing for Commercial Products
Temperature & Humidity Testing
Requirements for a product’s resistance to temperature and humidity extremes come from a wide variety of places: customer requirements, standards organizations, or simply your own piece of mind in having a reliable product. There are a generally well accepted group of tests that are commonly adopted by these sources, and they include:
| ID | Test Type | Applicable Standards |
| 1 |
Cold (low) temperature test
|
IEC 68-2-1, Test A: Cold
MIL-PRF-28800F, Section 3.8.2 Temperature
DO-160E, Section 4.5 Temperature Test |
| 2 |
High temperature test
|
IEC 68-2-2, Test B: Dry Heat
MIL-STD-202G, Method 108A Life, at Elevated Temperature
DO-160E, Section 4.5 Temperature Test |
| 3 |
Temperature cycling test
- Max. rate of change
- Max. chamber size
- Max. rate of change
- Max. chamber size
|
IEC 68-2-14, Test N, Change of Temperature
MIL-STD-202G, Method 107G Thermal Shock |
| 4 |
Humidity test
- Humidity range
- Max. chamber size
|
IEC 68-2-3, Test Ca: Damp Heat, Steady State
Moisture Resistance |
Shock & Vibration Testing
One of the toughest parts of a products lifecycle is the beginning: when it needs to be shipped to the destination. Shipping vibration, operational vibration, and drops / shocks are an inevitable part of a products life and again there are standards that have been universally accepted to make sure your product is ready for the real world.
| ID | Test Type | Applicable Standards |
| 6 |
Vibration (electro-dynamic
- 40,000 force lbs |
IEC 68-2-6, Test Fc:
Proc III (Large
MIL-STD-167-1, Section |
| 7 |
Shock (electro-dynamic shaker or
- Duration: 2 ms ~ ## ms |
IEC 68-2-27, Test Ea and guidance: Shock
Impact)
MIL-PRF-28800F, Section 3.8.5.1 Shock Functional
(Impulse) |
| 8 |
Drop test
- Flatness of drop: meets |
IEC 68-2-32, Test Ed: Free Fall
MIL-PRF-28800F
GR-63-CORE, Section 4.4.1 |
Water & Dust Ingress Testing
Many products will be exposed to water or dust at various degrees of severity, and one of the most common ratings for dust or water ingress protection is referred to as a “NEMA” rating (more international) or “IP” rating (more domestic). This is a quick comparison between NEMA ratings and IP ratings:
| NEMA 250 Type Rating | IP Code |
| Type 1 | IP00 (IP2x and IPx0) |
| Type 2 | IP22 (IP2x and IPx2) |
| Type 3, 3S | IP55 (IP5x and IPx5) |
| Type 3R | IP22 (IP2x and IPx4) |
| Type 4, 4X | IP66 (IP6x and IPx6) |
| Type 5 | IP33 (IP5x and IPx3) |
| Type 6 | IP66 (IP6x and IPx7) |
| Type 6P | IP66 (IP6x and IPx8) |
| Type 12, 12K, 13 | IP44 (IP5x and IPx4) |
Some NEMA type ratings meet and exceed the requirements for certain IP rating (detailed translation is listed in the table below). However, even if EUT satisfies listed IP rating, it cannot be translated to NEMA ratings. The conversions are as follows:
TABLE 1: Brief Comparison
| Specification | |||
| IEC 60529 | NEMA 250 | ||
| Standard developed by | IEC (International Electro technical Commission) | NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) in US | |
| Ratings | IP 0x to IP 6x IP x0 to IP x8 | Type 1~6, 12, 13 3R, 3S, 4X, 6P, 12K | |
| Is it a product standard? | No | Yes | |
| Applicable to | Any enclosure | Metal or polymeric enclosure for electrical equipment (100V max) | |
| Resistance requirement to: | Ingress of solid objects Ingress of water Corrosion | Covered Covered Not Covered | Covered Covered Not Covered |
| Construction requirement | Not covered | Covered | |
| Door and cover securement | Not covered | Covered | |
| Coolant effects | Not covered | Covered | |
| Effect of icing | Not covered | Covered | |
| Gasket aging and oil resistance | Not covered | Covered | |
| Translated to other rating? | CANNOT be converted to NEMA type rating | Yes, in some cases (see Table 1 for details) | |
PTI can handle IP ratings testing and most NEMA enclosure testing. The following 2 tables detail out our capabilities in both areas:
TABLE 3: PTI Capabilities, IP Ratings
| IP | Description | Test (exposure) duration | |
IEC 60529 - Water Resistance | IP x0 | Non-protected | |
| IP x1 | Protected against vertically dropping water drops | 10 min | |
| IP x2 | Protected against vertically dropping water drops, when enclosure is tilted up to 15 degree | 2.5 min/position of tilt | |
| IP x3 | Protected against spraying water | 10 min | |
| IP x4 | Protected against splashing water | 10 min | |
| IP x5 | Protected against water jets | Min 3 min | |
| IP x6 | Protected against powerful water jets | Min 3 min | |
| IP x7 | Protected against the effects of temporary immersion in water | 30 min | |
| IP x8 | Protected against the effects of continuous immersion in water | By agreement between manufacturer and the user | |
IEC 60529 - Dust Resistance | IP 0x | Non-protected | |
| IP 1x | Protected against solid foreign objects of 50mmØ and greater | - | |
| IP 2x | Protected against solid foreign objects of 12.5mmØ and greater | - | |
| IP 3x | Protected against solid foreign objects of 2.5mmØ and greater | - | |
| IP 4x | Protected against solid foreign objects of 2.5mmØ and greater | - | |
| IP 5x | Dust protected | 8 hrs | |
| IP 6x | Dust tight | 8 hrs | |
