Gen3 Systems provides Surface Technology International with new Conformal Coating production equipment

Gen3 Systems provides Surface Technology International with new Conformal Coating production equipment.

FARNBOROUGH, UK – April, 24 2012 – The Gen3 Systems CONFORMAL COATING EQUIPMENT RANGE has been introduced to Surface Technology International’s new conformal coating area.

Gen3 Systems have supplied their DC2000 Lab scale system, two DC2002 free standing Precision Dip Coating Systems and a bespoke SB2900 Spray Coating system all installed in STI’s new Conformal Coating area.

Gen3’s Conformal Coating range provides users with high quality and reliable equipment designed for spraying, dipping, stripping, drying, rework and inspection. Their in-house engineering team are able to provide bespoke solutions to client’s individual requirements.

Dip coating is the most effective method of applying a conformal coating material, whether in terms of efficiency, productivity or cost. Gen3’s coating equipment is suited to a wide variety of materials and applications, including solar cells, LCD’s and lenses. Their dip coating range features a unique oleo-pneumatic circuit that permits unparalleled precision. The regulated speed control is able to operate to speeds of less than 1mm/minute, and apply coatings to just to 200nm in thickness over the entire coating stroke to ±3% accuracy. Gen3 are so confident in the quality of their dip coating range that they even provide a 5-year guarantee as standard.

Spray application of a conformal coating requires the use of High Velocity Low Pressure (HVLP) spray technology that is standard across all Gen3 Systems spray coating systems. The spray chambers, available for specific applications, have been designed with a chamber volume of 2.5m3. The desired coating material can be delivered from pressurised material pots that provide for fast, convenient and easy material changes and line purging, whilst avoiding the possibility of material cross-contamination.

Gen3 has over 500 Dip and Spray Coating systems installed and commissioned globally and are recognised as world leaders in this field. They are also able to offer support and training either in-house or at the client’s facility.

Andy Maton, Senior Production Engineer at STI, commented:

“Being based locally to us means we get fast, first class support and this made our choice of supplier much easier.

We first met to discuss our requirements for manual spray coating and Gen3 very quickly produced design drawings for review. This proposal gave us the confidence that the SB2900 would exactly meet our needs. Our SB2900 spray booth was custom-made to our own specification, made possible because Gen3 not only distribute, they have their own design and engineering team with many years in the industry behind them. The installation side was also handled in a very professional manner and everything carefully checked and verified at each stage before their engineer left our site.

It was an easy decision when it came to deciding who would be our first option when we started looking into dip coating of PCB assemblies. We followed much the same process. Originally we wanted to look at a bespoke machine designed specifically for us, but thanks to the knowledge base of the team at Gen3, they steered us in the right direction (the right choice based on future work) and we went for two standard DC2002 machines instead.

With the new Spray Booth and the installation of two Precision Dip Coating machines, STI has increased both capacity and maintained the investment in new equipment to keep us ahead of the competition."

About STI
At Surface Technology International they deliver state-of-the-art contract electronics to large, world-leading companies and have a superb track record of meeting their needs every time. They provide bespoke solutions for the defense, aerospace, automotive, telecoms, medical, satellite and commercial sectors in the UK and around the globe, drawing from their extensive experience to generate supe