What is a Conformal Coating Machine?
A PCB conformal coating machine is used to apply conformal coatings onto a PCB to protect the board and its components from corrosion and environmental contaminants. It is a fast and accurate method of conformal coating. These machines can be used to fully coat the printed circuit board or selectively coat it. This method of using a machine to coat a PCB is expensive than other coating methods like hand coating and dip coating.
In a PCB conformal coating machine, the coating is done by using a needle and atomized spray applicator, non-atomized spray or ultrasonic valve technologies that can move above the PCB and dispense/spray the coating material in select areas. The desired thickness is obtained by controlling the flow rate of the applicator. This method is the best option for high volume PCB coating. But it has some limitations like other coating methods, such as capillary effects. In capillary effects, the coating pulls or runs away from certain areas of a PCB and result in a patchy finish on the surface of the board. For example, if the viscosity of the conformal coating is low, then it will easily penetrate into the device and can lead to capillary flow. Hence, a skilled operator needs for getting a uniform coating.
Key Parameters of a conformal coating machine:
Capacity: Number of dispense valves
Type of drive system: The system used to control the motion of the dispense valve in XYZ direction.
X, Y Travelling Speed: It is the travelling speed of applicator in the X, Y direction. Usually represented in mm/sec.
Z-Axis Movement: It is the vertical speed of the applicator
Maximum Coating area: It is the area that can be covered by the machine.
Air supply pressure: It is the pressure at which the air is supplied to perform the coating process.
Edge clearance: It is the distance between the edge of a PCB to the conformal coating finishing edge represented in mm.
PCB Directory has listed conformal coating machines from the leading manufacturers in the industry and made it easy for users to find these machines based on their requirement. Users can specify the number of valves and other parameters to find a tester that meets their requirements. They can view machine specifications, download the spec sheet and get a quote. Quotes requested are routed to manufacturer of the conformal coating machine.
