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Community Loudspeaker IP/EPA Ratings

The IP Code, or Ingress Protection Code, sometimes referred to as International Protection Code (IEC standard 60529) classifies and rates the degree of protection provided by mechanical casings and electrical enclosures against intrusion, dust, accidental contact, and water. It is published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The equivalent European standard is EN 60529. 

IP ratings are useful when choosing an outdoor speaker to qualify the enclosures (and/or it's ingress) is resistant to dust and water intrusion.  Many of Biamp's Community line of loudspeakers have an IP54W or IP55W Rating. The W indicates we have provided specific instructions in the owners manual to achieve the rating. In most cases a 5° to 15° down angle is recommended.

Note that IP ratings alone do not indicate the long term survivability of outdoor speaker systems as they only address ingress protection and do not address other factors such as thermal and humidity cycling, or corrosive atmospheres and the effects on the system components. 

IEC 60529 Ingress Protection (IP) Ratings

This document confirms that the following Community loudspeaker models listed below meet or exceed the IP Ratings specified: 
IP Chart.PNG

IP Rating Notes

  1. All IP Rated Community loudspeaker models include moisture sealed, conformal coated internal circuit boards plus treated and/or inherently water-repellant transducers for additional protection against environmental elements.
  2. To maintain ingress protection integrity, all loudspeakers must be mounted as specified in the user manuals.
  3. Never point any outdoor-mounted loudspeaker at an upward angle (unless specified in the user manual).  To ensure outdoor loudspeaker performance longevity, best practice is to point the loudspeaker at a downward angle of at least 5° to 15° or more.
  4. Most IP Rated Community loudspeaker models have been tested and are certified to conform with the environmental test methods of MIL-STD-810G. 
  5. Biamp reserves the right to reevaluate products and revise the IP Ratings at any time.

Effective Projected Area (EPA)

EPA is a coefficient used to determine how much force an object will apply to the mounting brackets and/or structure at a given wind velocity. This value is used in combination with a speakers's weight to determine the mounting requirements for a particular application.
Professional Engineers will often request these values when designing or qualifying a outdoor structure which will have speakers mounted to it to ensure the structure is mechanically suitable for the conditions. 

  • Devices with deep horns have a modifier EPA of 1.5
  • Devices with medium horns have a modifier EPA of 1.4
  • Devices with shallow horns have a modifier EPA of 1.2

This is to account for the "Scoop" effect if energy were blowing at a 45-degree angle relative to the front corner and grille of a system.

(Wind load in square feet / Meters)

EPA Chart.PNG

CAUTION: Installation of loudspeakers should be performed only by trained and qualified personnel. It is strongly recommended that a licensed and certified professional structural engineer approve the mounting design.

High Wind Load Usage: The “working load limit" and “safety factor" ratings are provided for static (unchanging) vertical (downward) loads only. These ratings do not apply to forces in any direction other than vertical (downward) and they do not apply to dynamic (rapidly changing) loads.

Storms or other high wind conditions can produce high dynamic (rapidly changing) loads on loudspeakers and brackets suspended outdoors. These wind-caused loads may be in any direction, not just in the vertical (downward) direction. Thus, for installations in areas that may experience high winds, the “Working Load Limit" and “Safety Factor" must be de-rated appropriately. To calculate an appropriately de-rated Working Load Limit and Safety Factor, we recommend retaining the services of a licensed structural engineer familiar with wind conditions at the installation site. The provided EPA (effective projected area) and other product information will aid the structural engineer in making these calculations.

 

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