What is a waterproof stainless-steel panel PC?
Waterproof stainless-steel panel PC is a high IP rated panel PC that combines both touchscreen display and powerful computer together for an all-in-one solution. Industrial waterproof panel PC is IP69K rated and built out of stainless-steel material that is capable of withstanding heavy washdowns and extreme environments. Compared to standard panel PCs or HMIs (human-machine interface), waterproof stainless-steel panel PCs are built for industrial applications that involve harsh environments including extreme temperatures, shock & vibration, dust & water exposure, and much more. This blog will guide you through the sophisticated design of a great IP69K waterproof stainless-steel panel PC.
Why Industrial Applications Need a Waterproof Stainless-Steel Touchscreen Display?
Industrial applications often involve dirty and extreme environments that are a huge threat to electronic devices. Industrial sectors such as automated industrial mining, food & beverage automation, intelligent healthcare, and smart agriculture are some sectors that involve extreme washdowns that are required to clean and sanitize their panel PCs. Moreover, during washdown in some applications like the healthcare and food industry, they applied cleaning solutions to eliminate tough stains and microorganisms on the display. This is why for intelligent industrial applications, both powerful compute power and robust design panel PC are the best solutions for successful deployments.
4 Robust Designs Elements that Make a Great Waterproof Stainless Steel Panel PC
1. The significance of IP69K Ingress Protection Rating?
IP rating or ingress protection rating is a rating that measures the protection level of devices against tiny dust and water particles ingress. The first digit on the IP rating indicates the level of protection against tiny dust particles that ranges from 0 for no protection up to 6 for full dust protection. Then, the second digit on the IP rating indicates the level of protection a device has against water exposures that range from 0 to 9K for the most protection. IP69K is the highest level of the IP rating system that validates the panel PC’s for being totally dust tight and protected against high-temperature, high-pressure water jet sprays from all sides in a close range. IP69K can endure water jet spray with a pressure of around 1160-1450 psi, at a temperature of 80℃.
2. M12 Connectors
Waterproof stainless-steel panel PC is equipped with M12 connectors for ultimate dustproof and waterproof solution. M12 connectors are known for their reliability and durability in withstanding harsh environments that include constant exposure to dust and water. M12 connectors also support PoE (power over ethernet) that allows the cable to deliver both power and data over a single cable. M12 connectors are rated from IP67 up to IP69K for ingress protection rating. Moreover, they are protected with EMI (electromagnetic interference) shield, and all of these are configured in a slim 12mm diameter cable.
3. Stainless Steel Material
The waterproof stainless-steel panel PC enclosure is built with SUS316 material for optimal durability and longevity of the device. SUS stands for steel use stainless, which is the typical Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) that are used to measure the stainless-steel grades. SUS316 is one of the toughest and most corrosion-resistant metals available that are used in military, marine, chemical processing plants, or other extreme industrial applications. Molybdenum contained in the metal is what makes SUS316 even more special. It provides additional strength to resist corrosion and extreme temperature, making SUS316 much stronger than SUS304.
4. Optical Bonding Touch Display
Furthermore, the optical bonding method is applied to the touch display manufacturing process to ensure the performance of the waterproof stainless-steel panel PC amid deployments in extreme environments. To create optical bonding, a thin layer of resin is applied between the glass layer and the TFT panel layer, resulting in a solid laminate that bonds both layers together. With optical bonding, the refractions on the screen are eliminated because the gap between the glass and display is filled. This makes the display become much brighter, easy to read, and durable. Moreover, with a layer filling the gap between the glass and the display, dust and moisture are not able to enter the screen gap, which is great for waterproof deployments.
4 Must-Have Features of An IP69K Stainless Steel Panel PC
1. High-End Specification
The waterproof stainless-steel panel PC is configured with over-the-top specifications for intelligent applications. The panel PC is equipped with a CPU (central processing unit) and is embedded with an Intel Core i5-8365UE processor with memory, storage, and a full-size mini PCIe expansion slot for additional connectivity . These configurations are very powerful and far from other industrial panel PC specifications that are available on the market.
2. High-End Touch Screen Display
To make sure the user has the best experience in using the device, the industrial waterproof panel PC comes with a capacity and resistive touch option for industrial use that can support multi-touch up to 10 touchpoints and resistive sense for workers that use gloves around the working area. Moreover, for outdoor use, the FHD display screen generates 1,000+ nits high-brightness with a 178˚ wide viewing angle to withstand strong lighting that can overpower even the more advanced display. That said, a clear display can avoid the risk of error inputs that might lead to downtime.
3. VESA Mount
The stainless-steel panel PC is equipped with VESA mounting and Wall-Mounting options to provide more freedom for users. With the standardized VESA mounting, installing the panel PC will result in a low-cost installation process and have a broad range of positioning applications that increase versatility, flexibility, and ergonomic benefits during installments.
4. Safety Mode for Cleaning and Washdowns
Safety is one of the factors to prioritize during industrial deployments. The industrial IP69K panel PC is configured with a safety mode to enable/disable controls that can be utilized during everyday facility washdowns. This feature provides a unique safety experience to end-users because it allows applications to run continuously without any potential errors from high-pressure jets on the touchscreen. Moreover, the IP69K touchscreen display does not require any bulky external power converter and can directly use a 110-240V AC-in cable as the power source.
How IP69K Stainless-Steel Panel PCs Are Built For Industrial Applications?
1. Wide Temperature Range
The industrial waterproof touchscreen display is capable of withstanding extreme temperatures from -10℃up to 50℃. The wide temperature range is great for wide applications from cold food processing storage to hot outdoor agriculture applications.
2. Power Management: OVP, OCP, Wider power range
Industrial applications might involve a power fluctuation that can spike high enough to damage a computer’s internal component. Thus, IP69K panel PC is configured with OVP (over-voltage protection) for a voltage spike above 50V, OCP (over current protection), and a wide power range ranging from 9V up to 48V for application flexibility.
3. Shock and Vibration Resistant
The other extreme environment that is often found in industrial applications is tough shocks and harsh vibrations that can easily damage the computer’s system. The industrial IP69K touchscreen display is built with fanless design, cable-less design, and SSDs storage to deliver a robust architecture. Hence, the IP69K panel PC is capable of withstanding tough shock up to 20G and harsh vibration up to 2.4 Grms.
4. Rigorous Testing and Validation Process 
Ultimately, to guarantee the quality and performance of the touchscreen display, the IP69K panel PC went through rigorous testing and validation process in a reliable testing lab. All types of the IP69K waterproof stainless-steel panel PCs are tested and validated for their reliability, durability, and longevity of the system performance. The IP69K panel PC went through testing and validation processes such as in a temperature and humidity chamber, 1500 KGF vibration tester, thermal shock ramp chamber, IR thermal sensor, signal integrity tester, IP rating tester, and electrical tester.
