Short answer
Decide the mounting position first, then shortlist devices whose ingress rating suits it. An IP41 device is rated for a protected interior only; IP67 tolerates dust and immersion; IP68 goes further still. Feature parity between two trackers is irrelevant if one cannot survive where it must sit.
Key takeaways
- Our own catalogue spans three ingress classes: FMC003 at IP41, JT701 at IP67, OMNICOMM at IP68.
- IP41 means limited protection from solids and dripping water only, a cabin or sealed enclosure rating, not an exposed one.
- A plug-in OBD tracker is small and light (65 × 56.6 × 20.3 mm, 67 g on our listing) precisely because it never leaves the cabin.
- Exposed positions add a second requirement the IP code does not cover: direct solar load, which sealing makes harder to shed.
- Where the asset has no cabin at all, a container, a trailer, a static tank, the device must be self-contained and sealed by design.
01The decision most projects make backwards
A tracker is usually chosen on its feature list, connectivity, inputs, battery, GNSS accuracy, and the mounting position is settled afterwards by whoever performs the installation. That order produces a specific and avoidable failure: a device selected for its capabilities gets fitted somewhere its enclosure was never rated for, and it fails within a season for reasons the feature comparison could not have surfaced. The reverse order costs nothing. Establish where the device must physically sit, derive the ingress and thermal requirements from that position, and only then compare features among the devices that qualify. Our own catalogue makes the point without leaving the site: it lists devices at IP41, IP67 and IP68, and those are not three grades of the same thing but three different installation classes.
Steps
- Name the mounting position precisely
- Derive the ingress requirement from that position
- Read operating temperature as a separate row
- Compare features only among the devices that qualify
02What IP41 actually permits
Our Teltonika FMC003 listing is IP41, and reading those digits against the IEC scale explains exactly where it belongs. IEC grades the first numeral for solid objects from 0 to 6 and the second for liquids from 0 to 9. A 4 in the first position is well short of the dust result, and a 1 in the second is the lowest meaningful liquid grade. Together they describe a device protected against larger solid objects and dripping water, which is a cabin, a glovebox, a sealed junction box, or a similarly protected interior. It is not a rating for a chassis rail, a tank top, a trailer exterior, or anything exposed to wind-driven dust. That is not a defect in the device; it is the design brief of a plug-in OBD tracker, which lives inside by definition.
03Why the small device is small
The physical specifications follow from the same design decision. The FMC003 listing gives dimensions of 65 by 56.6 by 20.3 millimetres and a weight of 67 grams, with a 170 mAh backup battery and a sleep current under 1 milliamp. Those numbers describe a device that draws its power from the vehicle, needs only a small reserve to report a disconnection, and can be small because it does not carry a sealed and hardened enclosure. Compare that with our JT701 padlock listing at 15,000 mAh: a hundredfold larger cell, because a padlock on a container has no vehicle to draw from and must run for extended periods alone. The size difference is not a quality difference. It is a direct consequence of where each device sits and what it can rely on.
04The exposed position adds a second requirement
Moving a device outdoors introduces a stress the IP code does not grade at all: direct solar load. Temperature is absent from both IP numerals, so an IP67 rating says nothing about how a device behaves in an hour of Gulf afternoon sun. Worse, the two requirements pull against each other, the sealing that earns a top dust result also removes convective cooling, so the better-sealed enclosure runs hotter in the same sun. This is why an exposed installation is two decisions rather than one: choose the ingress rating for the dust and water the position presents, then separately manage the thermal path with shading, a light-coloured housing, or a mounting point that is not in direct sun for the hottest hours. Reading the IP rating as a single ruggedness score hides the second decision entirely.
05Assets that have no interior at all
A third class of asset removes the choice. A shipping container, an unpowered trailer, a static storage tank or a skip has no cabin, no ignition-switched supply, and often no power at all. For these the device must be self-contained by design, and the specifications shift accordingly. The JT701 listing shows the pattern: IP67, an operating range of −20 °C to +70 °C, a 15,000 mAh cell, dual SIM to cover network gaps, and a built-in GPS reporting 2.5 m CEP accuracy. Every one of those entries answers the absence of a host vehicle rather than a feature preference. The corollary for procurement is that a cabin tracker and a container tracker are not substitutes at any price, because the constraint each solves is different.
06Where the sensor sits is a separate question again
A fuel or weight sensor is mounted independently of the tracker that reads it, and its position is usually harsher. The OMNICOMM listing is IP68 with an operating range of −40 °C to +85 °C and a top-mount standard thread, which describes a probe entering a tank from above and staying there through washing, refuelling and weather. The Eurosens Dominator carries IP67 across the same temperature band. Both are rated well beyond the IP41 of the cabin tracker they may report to, and that asymmetry is normal rather than a mismatch: the sensor is outside and the tracker is inside, connected by a cable. What the pairing does require is that the cable entry and gland are treated as part of the sealing, since that is the path water follows when a sensor is otherwise correctly specified.
07A four-step order for the next installation
The sequence is short and it eliminates wrong purchases before they are quoted. First, name the mounting position precisely, inside a cabin, inside a sealed enclosure, on an exposed chassis rail, on a container exterior, or on a tank top. Second, derive the ingress requirement from that position and treat it as a hard filter rather than a preference. Third, read operating temperature as a separate row and judge it against the position's worst hour, remembering that a battery inside the device usually has a narrower range than the enclosure. Fourth, only now compare features among the devices that survived the first three steps. If the asset has no host vehicle, add self-sufficiency to step two: cell capacity, network redundancy and standalone GNSS become requirements rather than upgrades.
| Position | Minimum ingress class | Power source | Example from our catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle cabin / OBD port | IP41 is sufficient | Vehicle supply | Teltonika FMC003 (IP41) |
| Sealed junction box indoors | IP41 is sufficient | Vehicle or mains | Teltonika FMC003 (IP41) |
| Exposed chassis rail | IP67, plus shading | Vehicle supply | higher-rated tracker required |
| Container or trailer exterior | IP67 and self-contained | Internal cell | Jointech JT701 (IP67, 15,000 mAh) |
| Tank top, in-tank probe | IP67–IP68 | External 9–40 V | OMNICOMM (IP68), Eurosens (IP67) |
| Washdown bay | Top of the liquid scale | Either | check the second digit specifically |
Figures and sources
- Teltonika FMC003 ingress rating, a protected-interior class: IP41 (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- Teltonika FMC003 physical size, weight and backup power: 65 × 56.6 × 20.3 mm; 67 g; 170 mAh Li-Po; sleep current < 1 mA (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- Teltonika FMC003 operating temperature and GNSS accuracy: −40 °C to +85 °C; < 2.5 m CEP; GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- Jointech JT701 ingress rating, temperature range and cell capacity, the self-contained class: IP67; −20 °C to +70 °C; 15,000 mAh Li-ion; dual SIM; 2.5 m CEP (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- OMNICOMM fuel level sensor ingress rating, temperature range and mounting: IP68; −40 °C to +85 °C; top-mount standard thread (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- Relative backup-cell capacity between a cabin tracker and a self-contained padlock in our catalogue: 170 mAh (FMC003) versus 15,000 mAh (JT701), a factor of about 88 (Source: ENTEK.AI product catalogue, as of 2026-08-31)
- What the two IP numerals grade, per the standards body that owns the code: first numeral solids 0–6; second numeral liquids 0–9; temperature absent from both (Source: IEC, Ingress Protection (IP) ratings, as of 2026-08-31)
- Eurosens Dominator ingress rating and temperature band, for an externally mounted sensor: IP67; −40 to +85 °C (Source: Mechatronics, eurosens Dominator specification, as of 2026-08-31)
Questions
Can I mount an IP41 tracker outside if I put it in a box?
Only if the box itself carries the rating the position needs and the cable entry is properly sealed, the enclosure becomes the rated component. Note also that a sealed box removes convective cooling, so you have solved ingress and created a thermal question that the IP code does not address.
Why is the container padlock battery so much larger than the tracker's?
Because it has no host vehicle. The FMC003 listing carries a 170 mAh backup cell, enough to report a disconnection while drawing power from the vehicle. The JT701 listing carries 15,000 mAh, roughly 88 times more, because a container supplies nothing and the lock must run alone.
Is IP68 always the safest choice for an exposed position?
It is the safest against dust and water, and it does nothing for heat, temperature is absent from the IP code. In direct Gulf sun a better-sealed enclosure sheds less heat by convection, so specify the ingress rating the position needs and manage the thermal path separately with shading or a light-coloured housing.
Does the sensor need the same rating as the tracker?
No, and normally it should be higher. A tank probe sits outside in the weather while the tracker sits in the cabin, the OMNICOMM listing is IP68 and the FMC003 that may read it is IP41. What matters is that each component is rated for its own position and that the cable gland between them is sealed.