IP69K Explained: Cabinplant Weighing Solutions

IP69K is the highest rating on the Ingress Protection (IP) scale for protection against dust and water. It certifies that a piece of equipment can withstand close-range, high pressure, high temperature spray cleaning without letting water or dust reach the electronics inside. These are the exact wash-down conditions found in food processing plants.

What This Means for Cabinplant Equipment

All of Cabinplant’s multihead weighers are IP69K rated. As a result, the weighers can withstand daily high pressure, high temperature wash-down cleaning without compromising accuracy or the integrity of the electronics inside, which is a core requirement for continuous operation in food processing wash-down environments. This means you can buy a Cabinplant weighing solution without compromising on food safety, hygiene, or water getting inside your equipment. Even your load cells are protected against water ingress.

The gallery below shows examples of how Cabinplant builds hygienic design into their equipment to withstand high-pressure, high-temperature washdowns.

What IP69K Actually Tests

Every IP rating has two digits: the first covers protection against solid objects and dust, while the second covers protection against water. Lastly, the “K” indicates that the test follows ISO 20653, which test conditions closely match industrial wash-down.

IP69K carries the maximum score on both:

• The “6” means complete protection against dust: no dust enters the enclosure at all.
• The “9K” means the enclosure has passed a specific high pressure, high temperature water test: water at roughly 80°C, sprayed at high pressure, from four fixed angles, at close range (around 10–15 cm), for a set duration per angle, while rotating the test unit throughout.

Why IP69K Matters Specifically in Food Processing

Food processing is one of the few industries that need IP69K, mainly because of how workers clean the equipment to make sure they meet the food processing hygiene standards. Specifically, a weighing and portioning system in a wash-down zone typically faces:

• Daily or multiple times a day wash-down cycles using pressure washers
• Close-range spraying
• Frequent, repeated exposure

IP69K vs. Other Common Ratings

IP ratings are not a ladder where every higher number is strictly better for every use case. Instead, each rating tests a specific scenario, so the right one depends on how operators will actually clean the equipment.