Silicone Encapsulation
Background
The end customer is one of the world's most famous producers of pumps and valves. The United States constitutes a large part of their market, which means that the products must meet a number of American legal requirements, including in fire safety, where Underwriter Laboratories (UL) is the responsible institute that determines the requirement profile.
Silicone assignment
Components in a control unit must be protected with a viscous silicone that, due to the American requirements, must have approval for fire retardant properties according to UL94 testing. The silicone must not expose the electronics to risks, and must be able to harden at room temperature. It would be easy to manufacture: no two components could be involved.
Tribotec's solution
Encapsulate the components with RTV160 - a viscous one component electronics silicone, approved to UL94 standard. RTV160 emits small amounts of methanol as it cures, which does not affect the electronics at all. RTV160 is applied directly from the cartridge in small blobs around the components and allowed to cure with the help of humidity. It smells nothing and is otherwise a very kind product from a working environment point of view.
