Information

7
TRUE OUTDOOR PROTECTION
UV
IP
SETTING
STANDARDS
GLOBAL ENCLOSURE STANDARDS
For safety reasons, connectors have to be protected from outside influences like dust, foreign
objects, moisture, water and sunlight. The most common and globally recognized standards for
outdoor applications are IEC 60529 with the IPxx ingress protection levels and the UL50E / NEMA 250
enclosure type rating. Although these standards have the same goal to identify an enclosure capacity
to withstand environmental influences, they differ in their definition, testing and pass criteria. The UL50E
standard requires an UV test for thermoplastic materials which does not form part of the IP test. Neutrik
have ensured that the new TOP range of products met both internationally recognized standards.
To ease equipment qualification Neutrik designed and qualified their TOP line to the connector standards
IEC 61076-2-103, IEC 60320-1, UL 1977, UL 498. But in addition Neutrik took into account the special
requirements for wet locations and outdoor applications and qualified the TOP line also according UL50E.