cleaning factory floor
When you want to ensure professional-grade protection for delicate electronic equipment, NEMA standards are one of the go-to guides. The NEMA 4 rating is a standard that’s commonly used to identify enclosures that have been rigorously tested to withstand:
    • Falling and airborne dust, dirt and other particulate matter
    • Non-submersion water contact such as rain, snow and hose spray
  • Ice formation on the outside of the enclosure
Many indoor applications don’t need this level of protection, and it’s common to see enclosures with less rigorous ratings like NEMA 1 and NEMA 2 used in indoor environments. However, some businesses will still find that they need a NEMA 4-rated enclosure even for indoor uses. We’ll discuss a few of these applications here.

1. Agriculture and Livestock Processing

Industrial agriculture and livestock processing are indispensable parts of the global food supply chain. They’re fast-moving, high-volume businesses with no time for equipment breakdowns. Thus, when sensitive electronics are present in these demanding environments, businesses need to make sure they’re using high-performance protective enclosures.Enclosures for these applications need to guard against frequent wash-downs with high-pressure hoses and large amounts of airborne dust and agricultural waste products. That makes NEMA 4 enclosures like the Polycase WH series an ideal fit for agribusiness.

2. Car Washes

More than perhaps any other type of indoor business, car washes demand watertight resilience from their equipment. All day long, customers come through to get their cars lathered, soaked and rinsed, and that translates to a lot of water and other chemicals flying through the air. High-pressure jets of water are a fact of life with car washes in a way that they aren’t for most businesses. Some car washes also skirt the line between indoor and outdoor, meaning that ice formation is a real possibility. The constant water spraying at a car wash can significantly contribute to ice formation, so it’s important to make sure the internal components of your electronics are protected by a NEMA 4 enclosure like the Polycase HD series. car going through automatic car wash

3. Amusement Parks

An amusement park isn’t all fun and games–behind the scenes, there’s serious work being done to keep everyone safe. That means that for parks with indoor water attractions, NEMA 4 rated enclosures are often key to keeping electronic components dry and safe. These electronics will often, by necessity, be in the “splash zone,” so it’s essential to have enclosures that can resist repeated contact with large amounts of water.

4. Hazardous Chemicals Processing

Maintaining a safe and efficient hazmat processing facility requires strict adherence to codes at all levels. Protecting both employees and equipment is vital, and protection from hazardous chemicals requires not just resistance to water spray and airborne particles, but also the ability to resist many common corrosive and caustic agents.For these reasons, experts often recommend NEMA 4X enclosures to businesses that work with these chemicals. NEMA 4X enclosures meet all of the same standards that NEMA 4 enclosures do but also provide an additional level of protection against corrosion. NEMA 4X enclosures are often made of polycarbonate, stainless steel or aluminum.aluminum tanks storing raw materials

NEMA 4 Enclosures from Polycase

Polycase offers an industry-leading selection of NEMA 4 rated enclosures. We know that our customers demand enclosures that meet their performance specifications, so we precision-engineer our enclosures to offer a diverse array of features without ever compromising quality. Our products include a variety of features such as:
    • Distortion-free clear covers
    • Keyed quarter turn latches for secure access
    • UL flame ratings
    • Surface mounting flanges
  • Fiberglass reinforcement for extra durability
Our commitment to meeting our customers’ needs even extends to offering customized enclosures. We’re proud to have custom CNC machining and digital printing services available on demand for almost all of our polycarbonate enclosures. Our customization process combines the best of the old and the new. With over 25 years of experience, we’ve refined our process to virtually eliminate scrap and inefficiency, so our prices are competitive, our turnarounds are quick and we require no minimum orders. At the same time, we’ve invested in the latest CAM technology for our machining process, enabling us to achieve accuracy of up to +/- 0.005 inches.If it sounds like a NEMA 4 enclosure is what your business needs for your next electronics project, or you’re not sure what NEMA rating you need, our enclosure experts are ready to help! Give Polycase a call at 1-800-248-1233 or contact us online for a free quote on high-performance customized enclosures.
In Heavy-Duty Electronics Enclosures, NEMA Rated Enclosures