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About your product's waterproof and dust protection
Some Bose products carry a certified “Ingress Protection” rating which indicates the product will prevent certain levels of liquid from entering the housing if exposed. The following is a guideline on what these ratings mean and how you should use the product when it comes to liquids and dust.
IP ratings explained
IP stands for "Ingress Protection" and measures how well a product is protected from both solid objects and liquids.
Some examples related to Bose IP product ratings:
What if a product doesn't have an IP rating?
This just means a product did not go through a specific IP test.
IP digits
Protection from solid objects and dust
The first digit ranges from 0-6 and reflects protection from solid particles.- IP0X: The product is not protected against any physical contact or objects
- IP1X: Only protected from objects larger than 50 mm
- IP2X: Protected from any object larger than 12.5 mm
- IP3X: Protected from things above 2.5 mm
- IP4X: Protected from anything bigger than 1 mm
- IP5X: Dust resistant. Some dust may get through, but it won't be enough to damage the product
- IP6X: The product is fully dust tight
Protection from water
The second digit ranges from 0-9 and shows how well the product is protected from water.
- IPX0: The product offers no special protection from water
- IPX1: Can resist water that drips vertically onto the product
- IPX2: Can resist water that hits the product at a 15° angle or less
- IPX3: Can take water sprays of up to 60°
- IPX4: Is resistant to water splashes from any direction
- IPX5: Can resist a sustained, low-pressure water jet spray. Not recommended for use in the shower
- IPX6: Can resist high-pressure, heavy sprays of water
- IPX6K: Can resist water jets of extremely high pressure. Rarely used.
- IPX7: Can be submerged up to 1 meter in water for 30 minutes.
- IPX8: Can be submerged deeper than 1 meter. The exact depth is specified by manufacturer
- IPX9K: Resists high-pressure, high-temperature sprays at close range. A very special case that's dictated by a separate standard. Rarely used.
Some examples related to Bose IP product ratings:
- IPX4: Provides a limited amount of protection from liquids entering the product. The protection is up to and including splashing water from 360 degrees of direction for a limited amount of time. It is not intended to provide ingress protection from liquid jet streams or liquid submersion. The IPX4 rating is not a permanent condition and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear.
- IP55: Provides a limited amount of protection from liquids entering the product. The protection is up to and including splashing from low pressure jets of water for a limited amount of time. It is not intended to provide ingress protection from high-pressure liquid jet streams or liquid submersion. The IP55 rating is not a permanent condition and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear.
What if a product doesn't have an IP rating?
This just means a product did not go through a specific IP test.