How do you waterproof a GPS device?
Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 8:00PM | Gregg Hallam 
A large manufacturer of GPS devices for the Marine Industry was looking for a way to replace the Extruded Silicon O-Ring gasket that they put inside of the groove side for a tongue and groove ABS housing. There were many options for waterproofing such as potting, Conformal Coating, UV cure in place gasket, die cut gasket, welding the plastic housings together, etc.
How do engineers choose a technology to move forward with?
The manufacturer decided that based on certain factors that UV cure in place gaskets were the right solution. Criteria included:The manufacturer decided that based on certain factors that UV cure in place gaskets were the right solution. Criteria included:
- Cost: Current cost was ~$1.10/gasket with about 1min of assembly time.
- Re-workability: GPS units need to allow components to be replaced.
- No changes to tooling: Wanted to be able to use same Injection Molding tooling
- Decrease custom parts: Using the same technology for multiple size GPS units was desired.
3) What to do with catalogs of UV curing equipment and materials?
The design engineers requested samples and tried different combinations from multiple suppliers to no avail. The engineer was about to scrap the idea when he and I met by chance. I explained to him the basics of UV curing technologies and materials available. I provided a recommendation on UV curable materials as well as systems for both dispensing the material and curing these parts. He took my suggestions and shopped around to other suppliers trying to find a solution from them. He came back to me when he still could not make it work.
4) What differentiates one supplier from another?
Technical knowledge and expertise. Because I have a background as a medical device and electronics manufacturing engineer/manager, I understood the production requirements and how to build a product within their specifications. By combining this with my expertise of UV materials and manufacturing technologies, I was able to provide proof of concept parts utilizing the material I selected that passed all of their environmental tests. After this, we ran pilot production quantities at my lab with the same equipment I recommended. Once these passed and the customer purchased a full UV curing system from me, I provided technical support for installation and process refinement until the process exceeded my claimed results.
5) What were the overall results?
The final per piece cost of the gaskets went from ~$1.10 to ~$0.30 with time increasing from 1min to 1.5min. Re-working of parts went from 1min to 0min for gasketing. Capital Equipment costs were recouped within 1year. Design Engineers were praised by their superiors. Anytime a production issue arrises or improvements are needed, the manufacturer knows that they have a committed partner and supplier that they can count on for expert support in a timely manner for all their UV applications.
Reader Comments (1)
Excelent! I been work from the beginning on this project with Greg and He offers a great background and support on UV systems and chemical as well. Thanks Greg.