Jargon Buster
Welcome to our Jargon Buster, a simple, no-nonsense guide to help you understand the terms and phrases you might come across when using our site. Whether you're a healthcare provider, workplace safety officer, a concerned parent, or simply a first-time, buyer seeking to make an informed purchase, this glossary is here to take the confusion out of technical talk.
What is an Intumescent Seal?
An intumescent seal is an integral part of a fire doorset. It remains dormant under normal conditions but swells to many times its original size when exposed to the heat of a fire, thus closing the gap between a fire door and its frame. Intumescent seals are frequently combined with cold smoke seals, which latter prevent the ingress of smoke around fire door edges in the early stages of a fire.
What is an Ionisation Smoke Alarm?
Ionisation smoke alarms react quickly to fast-flaming fires and work by ionising the air between 2 electrodes which are positively and negatively charged, this creates a small current inside the chamber. When smoke enters the chamber it causes the balance of current inside to be changed and the alarm sounds.
See: Optical Smoke Alarm | Smoke Alarm
What is IP an Rating?
IP Rating stands for ingress protection rating and indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. The ratings are made up codes (upto 3 digits) as detailed in the table.
| IP # | First Number - Protection against solids | Second Number - Protection against liquids | Third Number - Protection against mechanical impacts (often omitted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | No Protection | No Protection | No Protection |
| 1 | Protected against solid objects over 50mm | Protected against vertically falling drops of water | Protected against impact of 0.225 joules |
| 2 | Protected against solid objects over 12mm | Protected against direct sprays up to 15 deg. from vertical | Protected against impact of 0.375 joules |
| 3 | Protected against solid objects over 2.5mm | Protected against direct sprays up to 60 deg. from vertical | Protected against impact of 0.5 joules |
| 4 | Protected against solid objects over 1mm | Protected against direct sprays from all directions - limited ingress permitted | Protected against impact of 2.0 joules |
| 5 | Protected against dust - limited ingress permitted | Protected against low pressure jets from all directions - limited ingress permitted | Protected against impact of 6.0 joules |
| 6 | Totally protected against dust | Protected against strong jets from all directions - limited ingress permitted | Protected against impact of 20.0 joules |
| 7 | Protected against effects of immersion from 15cm - 1m | ||
| 8 | Protected against long periods of immersion under pressure | ||
| 9 | Protected against close-range, high pressure, high temperature spray downs |
For example IP65 would be interpreted for protection as follows: 6 (being the first number of the code, the number relates to the second column in the table) - Totally protected against dust, and 5 (being the second number of the code, the number relates to the third column in the table) - Protected against low pressure jets of liquids from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
This system is designed for IP ratings of up to three digits.