If you are selecting an encoder for a heavy-duty application, or harsh environment there are at least 4 items that need to be considered: 

Protection grade level

shock 

vibration 

operating temperature 

It is important that your encoder can withstand ingress from dust or water

Many heavy-duty applications take place in environments, where one or both are present. 

At a minimum your encoder should have either an IP65, or IP67 protection rating.

It should be noted that all four of the ratings levels mentioned above offer the same level of dust  protection, it is the level of water protection offered that varies.  

Care should be taken to ensure that the encoder is installed in such a manner that water is deflected away from any vulnerable points in the installation, such as connector or cable joins.

If an encoder is installed with the shaft facing upwards, it is advisable to take step to prevent water from running down the shaft continuously.

An encoder should never be exposed directly to sunlight, or any other heat source. Otherwise the temperature in the encoder could exceed the maximum rated operating temperature, which could cause damage to the internal components.

We Shanghai Hengxiang Optical Electronics Co,ltd use the international standard IP Code, International Protection Marking,, for specifying the sealing qualities of our units. The chart below explains what the different numerical designations define. Note that the designations build on the previous ones;

HENGXIANG encoder offers the following sealing designations on our encoders:

IP50: Unit is not entirely protected from ingress of dust, but not enough dust can enter the unit to interfere with the unit’s function. Unit is not protected from water/moisture.

For most of HENGXIANG’s incremental encoder and absolute encoder, we can offer IP50 version.

If your applications of encoder has requirement on dust but not too much dust, you may contact us for model selection options.

We can satisfy with all types of encoders with different specifications and dimensions.

All IP designations of IP60 or higher are protected completely against dust ingress; like, “dust-tight”.

IP65: Dust-tight. Protected against low-pressure jets of water in all directions, with limited ingress permitted.

So far, we have many types of IP65 encoders,including solid shaft encoder and hollow shaft encoder.if you need IP65 encoder, please contact us for more details.

IP67: Dust-tight. Protected against water immersion between 15 cm and 1 m for a duration of 30 minutes. We usually call IP67 as dust-proof and water proof.

There we recommend our PGK50 Series encoder, it’s a IP67 type optical incremetnal encoder, AIlI made of stainless steel, can be properly worked under extremely low temperature,dust-proof & water-poof due to high protection level IP67 ,extra-thin and easy to install,with external diameter 50mm,thickness 27mm,diameter of shaft 10mm;012mm;0 14mm;O15mm (optional).its dimension can meet just about any application ranging from factory automation equipment to hydraulic lift tables and anything else in between.

Typically, the type of feedback is chosen based on the application and commercial requirements; resolution, repeatability, harsh duty requirements (oil or water contamination, temperature range, etc), cost, and availability.  While most motion engineers are familiar with these position generating encoder derivatives, there is a newer method of resolving position data based on tried and true technologies that offers the best of all options:

-IP67 Operation (water, oil, grease, dust tolerant)

--45°C to +95°C for storage

-High Resolution (max resolution is 10,000ppr

-High Speed allowable (3000 rpm)