IK Rating Testing to IEC 62262

An IK rating is a two-digit code defined by IEC 62262 that states how much mechanical impact an enclosure can take without losing the protection it is designed to provide. The scale runs from IK00, no protection, to IK10, which withstands a 20 joule impact. EN 62262 is the European adoption of the same standard, and the impact methods themselves come from IEC 60068-2-75.

The code answers a question every enclosure spec eventually asks: what happens when the product gets hit. A luminaire in a parking structure, a controller on a plant floor, a charger on a wall in a public space. Each one takes a knock at some point, and the IK code tells the buyer how hard a knock the housing is rated for.

The impact energy decides the rating. The striking element and the method follow from it.

Impacts are applied to the surfaces that are exposed once the product is installed, and the sample is then checked against the acceptance criteria of its own product standard.

The striking element is a hammer of defined mass and face profile, released so that it hits the enclosure with the energy of the target code. Codes IK01 to IK06 use a spring-operated hammer. IK07 and above use a pendulum hammer or a vertical free-fall hammer, and the standard treats the two as equivalent.

The sample is mounted the way it would be in service, on its own fixings, and the impacts are distributed over the faces a person or an object could reach. Windows, lens covers and displays count as exposed surfaces if they are part of the enclosure.

After the impacts the enclosure is inspected. IEC 62262 does not set the pass criteria itself. It leaves that to the product standard, which typically asks whether the enclosure still keeps its degree of protection, whether live parts are still covered, and whether the product still operates. So the product standard matters as much as the code. IEC 60598-1 for luminaires reads a cracked diffuser differently from the way an assemblies standard reads a dented door, and we scope the test against the standard you are certifying to.

IP ratings under IEC 60529 cover dust and water. IK ratings cover mechanical impact. They are two separate codes, tested separately, and outdoor and industrial enclosures are usually specified with both. When a program includes both, the impact test normally runs first, because a housing that cracks under impact changes the ingress result.

Megalab runs Ingress Protection (IP) testing and NEMA enclosure testing in the same lab, so an enclosure can go through impact, dust and water in one visit with one set of reports.

Any product whose housing can be struck in normal use. The codes show up most often on:

If your customer’s specification names an IK code, or your product standard includes an impact test, the result belongs in your safety file. Send us the spec and we will tell you what applies.

Our impact testing to IEC 62262 and IEC 60068-2-75 runs in our ISO/IEC 17025 lab, accredited by A2LA under certificate 5179.02, and the accreditation extends to customer supplied and industry specifications built on these methods. See our accreditations.

The same lab runs IP and NEMA enclosure testing alongside climatic, salt fog and vibration work, and our product safety engineers evaluate to standards including IEC 60598-1, IEC 62368-1 and IEC 60601-1. An enclosure that needs an IK code usually needs some of that too, and it costs less to run it as one program with one point of contact than to split it across labs.

We respond within one business day, and you can talk to the engineer who scopes the test.

Five answers are usually enough for a firm number and a schedule:

Send us those details and we will confirm the requirement and quote it.