Is a sloped top required on enclosures in a food washdown environment?
Short answer
There is currently no standard or regulatory requirement for a sloped top on an enclosure in a food washdown environment. Sloped tops are widely used because they prevent liquids, debris and dust building up around the enclosure, and in many cases the solution will be a roof angled at between 8° and 20°. You should also select a suitable ingress protection (IP) rating: for high-pressure, high-temperature washdown, IP69K indicates the enclosure is dust-tight and able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning. Material choice also matters: aluminium, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyurethane, duroplastic, thermoplastic elastomers and polyamide suit exposure to animal or vegetable fats, while polystyrene and ABS may not be suitable for food-grade applications.
There are currently no standards or regulatory requirements covering the use of a sloped roof in this kind of installation. What is essential is to identify a solution that effectively prevents pooling of liquid or accumulation of debris, and in many cases that solution will be a sloped roof at an angle of between 8° and 20°.
Electrical enclosures with a sloped top are widely used to prevent the build-up of liquids and other materials, such as debris and dust, around the enclosure. Such build-ups may compromise the integrity and service life of the enclosure and the electrical equipment within it.
To ensure the robot controllers are well protected, you also need to select enclosures with a suitable ingress protection (IP) rating. For washdown environments of this kind, IP69K solutions may be best. This rating indicates that the enclosure is both dust-tight and able to withstand high-pressure and steam cleaning, making the product suitable for high-pressure, high-temperature washdown.
Finally, you should identify the right material for the enclosure. If the system is likely to be exposed to animal or vegetable fats, aluminium, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyurethane, duroplastic, thermoplastic elastomers or polyamide are the materials to prefer. Polystyrene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), by contrast, may not be suitable for food-grade applications. More on material properties and resistance to different substances is published at https://www.spelsberg.co.uk/customising/special-paints-and-materials/materials/
Our complete offering can be explored at https://www.spelsberg.co.uk/product-finder/ and our in-house customised product development capabilities are described at https://www.spelsberg.co.uk/customising/customised-product-development/customised-product-development/. Thanks to our extensive expertise we offer a wide range of off-the-shelf products as well as bespoke solutions, and we can help you determine the most suitable enclosure for your application.
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