When protecting outdoor electronics, your choice of enclosure is more than just a box, it’s a critical component of the system’s longevity. Outdoor environments are truly unforgiving including being around moisture, dust, and extreme temperature swings that can degrade sensitive components if the housing isn’t up to the task. (Frankly, this is where Bud Industries excels…) At its core, IP67 is a standard defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) that classifies the degree of protection an enclosure provides against…

What distinguishes a simple metal or plastic box from a functional electronic enclosure? Most often, it’s the modifications necessary to allow access to the interior, stabilize and protect its contents, and present the appropriate appearance. Enclosures typically need a minimum of one cutout for a power cable and often many other modifications, which can include holes, cutouts, tappings, gaskets, pre-assembly, and finishing. For many design engineers, specifying enclosure modifications is the final step in the design cycle, with time-to-market pressure…

One of the most frequent questions we are asked is to clarify the NEMA rating system for enclosures.  There are many misconceptions about the ratings including that a higher number rating means a greater  level of protection or that all ratings suggest that the products are waterproof or dustproof.  For today’s blog, I am going to focus on two of the outdoor ratings and describe what they mean, how they are tested and what the difference are.  These are the…