27 July 2006 -- Loss of production is a thing of the past for a Hong Kong-based company thanks to the Intrinsically Safe XL7 process viscometer from Hydramotion. The company manufactures FR4, difunctional, multifunctional and special purpose copper-clad laminates for the printed circuit boards used in thousands of electronic applications worldwide. The laminates are made by compressing layers of glass fabric matting pre-impregnated with epoxy resin together with the outer copper layers.
Because the viscosity of the resin directly reflects its solid content and wetting performance, which in turn determine the quality of the finished product, it is very useful to be able to monitor viscosity during production.
However, the resin can contain up to 20% solid mineral filler, and with earlier viscosity measuring equipment the company found that filler particles, though only a few micrometers in size, significantly affected readings.
Moreover, the sticky nature of the resin often caused breakdowns.
There were no such problems once the Hydramotion XL7 process viscometer was installed on the line.
Unaffected by solid particles in the fluid, the XL7 has given this company a reliable way of monitoring its impregnation process in real time.
As volatile solvents are involved, the instrument is an Intrinsically Safe model certified for use in a Zone 0 (Class 1 Div 1 Group A) Hazardous Area.
'The instrument has very stable performance, a good measuring range and good control of viscosity,' commented the company's manufacturing engineering manager.
'Our resin solution viscosity has been well controlled at the desired value since we started to use Hydramotion.
Thanks to the viscometer we now have virtually zero production loss due to viscosity problem.' He added: 'With no time-consuming on-site setup and no moving parts to wear out or fail in service, the XL7 is truly 'fit and forget.
The viscometer can handle solids and stickiness without maintenance.
It was easy to install and is very simple to use.'
