Technical guide
IP ratings explained — IP67, IP69K and what the numbers mean.
Every lamp in our catalogue carries an IP (Ingress Protection) rating — IP67, IP68, IP69K. The numbers look interchangeable but they're not; each represents a specific test cycle defined under IEC 60529 and ISO 20653. This guide explains what each rating actually tests for, and which one matters for which application.
Laatst bijgewerkt 24 april 2026
Reading the IP code
An IP rating has the form **IPxy** — two digits.
**First digit (x)**: protection against solid objects and dust. Range 0 (no protection) to 6 (dust-tight).
**Second digit (y)**: protection against water ingress. Range 0 (no protection) to 9, with 9K being the high-pressure-jet variant added under ISO 20653.
So **IP67** = dust-tight (6) + immersion-resistant to 1 m for 30 minutes (7). **IP69** = dust-tight + protected against close-range high-pressure water (80–100 bar at 80°C). **IP69K** is the same as IP69 but adds the German automotive-industry specific test cycle including precise nozzle distance (0.1–0.15 m) and water temperature.
Which rating for which job
**IP65** — dust-tight, low-pressure water spray. Suitable for cab-interior lighting, dashboard switches, sheltered installs.
**IP67** — dust-tight, immersion to 1 m. Suitable for trailer markers, cab-roof beacons, anything that gets rained on but rarely jet-washed.
**IP68** — dust-tight, deeper continuous immersion. Suitable for permanent submerged install (boat lighting, agricultural equipment in flooded fields).
**IP69K** — dust-tight, high-pressure high-temperature jet wash. Required for any lamp on a vehicle that gets professionally washed: tippers, refuse trucks, agricultural equipment, delivery vans in livery service.
A lamp that meets IP69K also meets IP67 by definition (the water tests are progressively harder). Buying IP69K is "future-proof" in the sense that you don't lose anything by going higher than required.
Why "waterproof" doesn't mean "waterproof"
A lamp rated IP67 is "waterproof" in the sense of surviving a rainstorm or a brief immersion. It is NOT waterproof in the sense of surviving a 100-bar jet wash from 0.1 m. The two failures look identical (water inside the housing) but the test cycles are very different.
A common workshop frustration: a customer buys an IP67-rated work lamp for a tipper truck, then complains that water has got inside it within three months. The cause is jet-washing — the lamp was correctly tested to IP67 and was not designed for the conditions it was put into.
The fix is education at point-of-sale, which is why we list the IP rating prominently on every product page and recommend the IP69K SKUs for jet-washed applications.
If the lamp will see a pressure-washer, only IP69K matters. Anything less is going to fail eventually — not from poor manufacturing, but from being asked to do a job it wasn't tested for.
How we verify the IP rating
We don't take IP claims on faith. Two checks happen before a lamp goes into our catalogue:
1. **Documentation review**: the manufacturer's test report, signed by an accredited test house. CTL, TÜV Rheinland, SGS, Intertek — names we know. A "self-declared IP69K" without a third-party report is a red flag.
2. **Bench check**: we don't replicate the full IEC test (we don't have the lab) but we do check the gasket compression, the housing seal pattern, and the cable-gland torque. Lamps that pass the document review but fail the bench check don't go on the shelf.
Most product pages list the test-house name. Where it doesn't, the supplier hasn't shared the report — usually because they bought the lamp from a contract manufacturer and didn't get the underlying data. We're working on closing that gap; it's a slow process.