Original Date: 07/09/2007
Revision Date: / /

The Inpro/Seal Company has successfully reduced both cost and time by developing in-house testing to establish the ability of its seals to withstand dust and moisture, which has resulted in significant savings to its customers. Inpro/Seal previously relied on other companies to provide this testing and to provide an International Protection Code in accordance with standards from the International Electrotechnical Commission.

The industry standard for testing electrical enclosures is provided by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The standard provides methods to obtain an International Protection (IP) Code. The Inpro/Seal Company formerly relied on outside testing laboratories to perform tests on its bearing isolators in accordance with IEC standards. The tests consisted of subjective methods to determine whether or not the bearing isolators met certain standards for withstanding dust and moisture, after which an IP Code was assigned to the bearing isolator. These tests were both extremely costly ($40,000/test) and time consuming.

To better serve its customers, the Inpro/Seal Company developed in-house test stands that meet the IEC standards. To ensure the tests could be reproduced consistently, improvements were made that consisted of a standardized test stand and a defined angle at which testing was performed, enabling Inpro/Seal to greatly reduce the cost and time to acquire an IP Code rating. The test stand consists of a variable-speed motor, tachometers, variable-velocity water jets, a fixed-position stand, variable-angle water jets, and specialized equipment for dust-protection testing.

Inpro/Seal’s tests provide repeatable testing, save money, and reduce the time required to perform the tests. In-house testing has also enabled Inpro/Seal to perform testing independent of external company-provided testing.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.