INTERTRONICS Blog

An instant classic

2008-08-28T16:44:00.004+01:00

We are pleased to announce a significant new range of professional grade cyanoacrylate “instant” adhesives - superior quality, high purity single part adhesives which have numerous applications in all aspects of high technology, high performance assembly. Curing at room temperature in seconds, they provide excellent bond strength on a wide range of similar and dissimilar substrates including rubber, plastics, metal, wood, leather, ceramics, ferrites, stone, cork, glass, composites and paper. The range includes surface-insensitive, fast cure and low odour, low blooming formulations. Cyanoacrylate adhesives (CA’s) are known generically as “superglues” or “instant adhesives” and are extensively used in all manner of industrial applications, but often little understood and may be of extremely variable quality.

Our adhere cyanoacrylate single component systems are fast and easy to use, requiring no mixing or heating, and parts being bonded do not need clamping. They are solvent free. They achieve high tensile and shear strengths. Their high quality formulation and manufacture ensures excellent manufacturing repeatability and high stability – facilitating long shelf life for highly efficient production line use. The range includes a rubber toughened “flexible formulation”, an activator for even faster cures, and a primer which facilitates bonding of difficult to bond plastics such as polypropylene, polyethylene or silicone rubber – even PTFE.

While cyanoacrylates are ubiquitous adhesives we believe they are often taken for granted. It is our aim to raise-the-game of instant adhesives in manufacturing processes. To this end we are also strongly focused on dispensing technologies, whether through 20 or 50 gram integral pin cap HDPE bottles or 500 gram bottles for pressure pot and automated application. We score by offering a complementary complete range of compatible automatic, semi-automatic and manual dispensing systems in-house.

Clock this!

2008-08-06T14:55:00.006+01:00

World renowned clocks have been made in Derby since the mid-1700's, when clockmaker John Whithurst entertained his friends Benjamin Franklin and Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles Darwin) at his house in Queen Street. So, when the Finesse Collection of hotels were planning the reception area of their new boutique hotel in the town it was natural that they seek out the present day flag carriers of the Whithurst brand. Smith of Derby worked closely with James Blick, the Hotelier, to derive a contemporary design in keeping with the modern refurbishment of their traditional building.

The spectacular design by Kevin Litchfield did however call for some very specialist work. Explains Kevin, “We needed to fit a glass map of the world into a fine stainless steel frame. The two-part adhesive we were using gave us problems so we called the team at INTERTRONICS to discuss a UV cure alternative. Paul Whitehead arrived two hours later and basically did the job there and then.”

Our solution was to use DYMAX 429, which allowed plenty of time to accurately position the one-off and highly expensive components before rapid curing initiated with an IUV 250 UV Curing Flood Lamp. Paul described the situation, “They were having problems getting the joint bubble free using a two-part epoxy – whereas the DYMAX 429 completely eliminated this problem and gave a virtually invisible bond in a matter of minutes.”

Reaction to the finished clock has been extremely positive with its unusual two-part electromechanical construction showing local time in one quadrant and global time in the other. The two elements are actually two separate clocks. One shows local time, indicative to the quarter of an hour. From 12am to 12pm (and vice versa) the hand travels through the quadrant, there are hour and quarter hour markings. As an example, if it is 11:59, the hand would be positioned at the bottom of the quadrant pointing downwards. At 12:00 the hand would travel back through the quadrant.

The second clock depicts world times through 24 zones – or the 24 countries mentioned on the clock itself. The reference point for clock is the UK, and then countries were selected that were an hour apart from the previous one. When looking at the clock the world map travels around and the time can be taken from the dial that surrounds the globe.

This was clearly a unique one-off situation with very expensive components where no mistake could be allowed for – but it was also a valuable learning experience and we understand that Smith of Derby already have another commission with similar requirements and already know the solution – DYMAX 429 UV Curing Glass Adhesive.

New DYMAX information sources

2008-06-17T18:49:00.004+01:00

Our Sales Partners DYMAX have been busy building special websites for some of their latest leading edge products.

Check out:

www.dual-cure.com
UV and moisture cure conformal coating

www.seeitcure.com
Colour change on cure - a great innovation in process control

www.ultraredadhesive.com
Strong, red fluorescence for quality control

These are exciting new resources for exciting new products.

FREE dispensing poster - get yours now!

2008-06-06T17:08:00.004+01:00

We have just had delivered from the printers a new colour A3 glossy colour poster which shows all the standard dispensing consumable products we sell - things like dispensing barrels and tips or needles.

This was designed to be any easy reference for part numbers and sizes. If you ask for a copy, then you can stick it up on the wall next to your desk - everyone here has!

Seeing red

2008-04-15T12:39:00.006+01:00

We have just updated our DYMAX Medical Device UV Curing Adhesives webpage to offer the latest version of their selector guide - it's a download from there.

DYMAX are announcing some really exciting developments in this field (more to come soon!). Ultra-Red™ Fluorescing Technology is one. Once assembled and cured, DYMAX UV curable adhesives are usually clear and cosmetically superior.

When adhesives with Ultra-Red fluorescing technology are exposed to "black" UV inspection light (360-380 nm), they fluoresce bright red. The bright red fluorescence contrasts extremely well on plastics that naturally fluoresce blue in color (like PVC), and greatly assists with visual inspection of the bond-line area.

Lots of medical device manufacturers will find this a great boon!

Popular valve

2008-02-27T09:59:00.004Z

The IJF CV629 Cartridge Dispensing Valve is rapidly becoming one of our favourites. It is a pneumatically operated valve designed for precision dispensing of all types of fluids, such as solvents, oils, silicones, glues, UV adhesives, inks, etc. Shot sizes may be fine tuned by the adjustment screw at the top of the valve; so we can recommend it for applications where smaller, micro deposits are required.

Weighing only 135g, the CV629 Cartridge Dispensing Valve is one of the few valves that can be comfortably held in the hand without stress, and so is ideal for manual operations where an operator needs to apply frequent dispensing deposits. The CV629 features aligned air/material inlets, so we can put them close together when ganged up. Maintenance is easy - the seals are in a replaceable cartridge. It can handle a wide range of material viscosities at up to 300psi pressure, and that includes silicones. The valve is also recommended for integration in an automated system, or simple dispensing robot, where the quick-change one-piece cartridge seal ensures minimal maintenance and reduced down time.

Prize winning partner - traceability in electronics

2007-12-12T10:46:00.000Z

We always like to celebrate when one of our Sales Partners is a winner - and so we did at the Productronica show in Munich last month, when Practical Components won a Global Technology Award in the category of Components for the Aegis Traceability and Control Validation Kit.

Aegis Industrial Software Corp, the leader in manufacturing information management systems, and Practical Components, the leading supplier of dummy components, have partnered to offer a traceability and control kit that validates manufacturing processes and provides detailed product and process traceability. The kit provides the physical materials and procedural guide to determine a factory’s traceability and control capability, and rates the results in a formalized matrix. These ratings demonstrate manufacturers’ capabilities, communicate these capabilities to customers or auditors, and provide a starting point for improving capabilities.

We would be pleased to send you a copy of Practical’s free catalog, which is organized by package type/category with each product accompanied by drawings, description, and part number with special attention to lead-free availability and formulations. You'll find details of the award-winning kit on page 52.

Silicones and LEDs - removing heat and enhancing light

2007-12-05T10:52:00.000Z

Optics and packaging are playing an ever more important role when designing LED-based products which are both efficient and maintain performance over long periods of time. Silicone elastomers have proven themselves to be versatile in solving a variety of design and production issues. Our sales partner, ACC Silicones, have published a guide to products and applications in this growing field.

These include Optically Clear Encapsulants, a range of gels with differing cure cycles and physical properties. Together with harder silicone elastomers we can offer a product for most LED potting applications which require optical clarity. In particular, we can offer refractive index from 1.40 to 1.49, with an exciting new product available at 1.53.

Dissipating unwanted heat away from the diode to a suitable heat sink is essential for overall performance and can easily be achieved by selecting a thermally conductive silicone encapsulant. When selecting a thermally conductive encapsulant there is always a trade off between flexibility and thermal conductivity, due to the nature of the fillers used - as you raise the conductivity you will also see a rise in hardness. ACC Q-Sil 553 has been proven to provide a good balance offering reasonable conductivity whilst retaining a low modulus and hardness, thus reducing stress during the thermal cycle.

We get stuck into the Love Truck

2007-11-28T11:15:00.000Z

The problem involved a painted steel substrate, hand placed glass/ceramic tiles, substrate flexing and widely varying vibration over extended periods in outdoor conditions – in short a Tiki Love Truck! An unusual project even for us, but nonetheless as it proved, well within the capabilities of the adhere IRS 2125 Flexible Epoxy Adhesive.

The project was an Art Car – defined by Michael Trainer, Curator of Art Cars 2007 as “A drivable installation – any vehicle which has been re-imagined, re-styled, re-modeled, or completely metamorphosed by an artist into a transport of delight.” In this case it was conceived by Baroness von Reichardt as a Tiki Love Truck based around the tiki symbology of a large carved talisman in humanoid form, common to Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The Tiki Love Truck is a magical mosaic/ceramic adorned automobile, driven by two lovely hula girls who give out messages of love and peace as they drive by.

The base vehicle was a standard Nissan diesel pick-up truck to be covered in glass tile mosaics and ceramic Polynesian cultural images for the purpose of competing in art car parades – a major feature of the USA parade scene – but first revealed in the UK in Manchester 2007, where the Tiki Love Truck won the Makeover class alongside such vehicles as Crazy Golf – a VW Golf in grass effect with golfing participants, Bog Standard motorised bath tub, toilet and wash basin, Minnie 7 patchwork fabric covered Mini and Car Jack – a car removal robot wheeling away a Volvo like a wheelbarrow!

The Baroness googled "adhesives" and discussed the project with our technical advisors who suggested the adhere IRS 2125 Flexible Epoxy Adhesive – rapidly earning a reputation as a "stick-most-things-to-most-other-things" kind of adhesive in high performance specialist areas. It is a black epoxy resin system with a combination of flexibility and high adhesion strength on materials such as metal, glass, rubber and many plastics, including cable insulations and connector backshells at temperature up to 150°C. Originally developed for cable harnesses, fixing cables into connectors, IRS 2125 often solves problems where other adhesives are not suitable, offering relative flexibility and high strength adhesion for high technology bonding, sealing and insulating applications.

This suggestion proved to be a complete success over the 5 hours a day, 7 day installation and subsequently. Explains the Baroness, “As an artist I find the process of mosaic very therapeutic, hence the name of our organisation – the Treatment Rooms – and this adhesive certainly facilitated that process. It is just incredible – nice to use because you don’t have to mix it and with a convenient setting time. The tiles have been solid as a rock ever since. We have used the Love Truck for charity activities and will be taking it to Blackpool soon and then to Gateshead on New Years Eve.”

adhere IRS 2125 is flexible by epoxy standards, can seal to IP68 (continuous immersion) and it has a long shelf life (up to 18 months) and a pot life of 90 minutes at 23°C. Combined with excellent resistance to solvents such as de-icing fluid, petrol, oil and hydraulic fluid it really does what an adhesive should do – it produces tough bonds that withstand vibration and flexes sufficiently for many electronics, electrical and structural bonding applications.

This two-part system has a simple 1:1 mix ratio and is supplied in an easy to use side-by-side double syringe cartridge, complete with static mixing nozzles.

Not just flying high, cooking too

2007-10-09T16:43:00.000+01:00

Part of our range of silicone adhesive/sealants from ACC, the Silcoset range has a long-established reputation. They are approved for use by the MOD and Rolls Royce in aerospace and other critical applications.

With high temperature resistance and good adhesion, you would expect there to be other, perhaps more conventional, applications as well. You would be correct. Silcoset 158 is the product of choice for fixing glass panels onto doors and hinges in domestic ovens.

A free wipe

2007-09-11T15:20:00.000+01:00

How to make a good adhesive bond? There are many factors to take into account beyond selecting the optimal adhesive, including joint design and application process. We have a Users Guide to Adhesives which tackles some of these key topics, which you are welcome to download.

Surface preparation is one of those key topics. We have just introduced a convenient pre-saturated wipe, the ADH1610 Isopropyl Alcohol Cleaning Wipe to help you make better bonds. Isopropyl alcohol is the solvent of choice for the final preparation, cleaning and degreasing of all substrates prior to adhesive bonding. In addition, it is useful for the cleaning up of many uncured adhesives, sealants and resins.

There is a form to request a free of charge sample, too!

Latest brochure for electronics assembly adhesives

2007-08-02T14:37:00.000+01:00

Download the complete DYMAX Electronics Adhesives, Coatings & Encapsulants Selector Guide (548Kb pdf).

The genuine article

2007-08-01T19:17:00.000+01:00

A bumper issue of FAST magazine arrived this week, its content bolstered by an article from us.

Improving Industrial Dispensing with Pneumatic Dispensing Valves discussed what improvements you can get by moving from simple pressure dispensing to a valve. You can download the article from our Technical Bulletins & Articles page.

Diaphragm valve for UV materials

2007-07-26T16:02:00.000+01:00

Dispensing of UV adhesives is a subject close to our hearts, so we are pleased to introduce the new IJF DV509-UV-LF Diaphragm Dispensing Valve. This diaphragm valve comes from the same world leading stable at I&J Fisnar as the pneumatic controller which makes this such an easy to use package, especially for UV curing resins. The valve’s high cycling rate of 200 per minute makes it ideal for automated systems in all industries.

The IJF DV509-UV-LF has been specifically constructed to provide shielding from outside light and to reduce metal contact, which can sometimes cause UV resin to gel. The diaphragm itself is opened by pneumatic solenoid and is positively closed by a return spring, thus ensuring precision of operation. Construction of the valve includes a wetted chamber compatible with the flow of low to medium viscosity UV materials which can otherwise prove difficult.

Single part, solvent free silicone conformal coating

2007-07-19T15:45:00.000+01:00

ACC 14 is a new silicone conformal coating which is single part, 100% solids and solvent free. The RTV (ambient temperature curing) coating has been formulated to provide protection for high specification printed circuit boards.

Key features:

1-part, no mixing

Clear

Ambient temperature cure - touch dry in 15 minutes

Wide service temperature range (-50°C to +200°C)

Low viscosity

Excellent adhesion

Excellent resistance to solvents, humidity and mould

Solvent free, 100% solids content

No shadowing effect

It can be applied by dip, spray coating, selective spray applicators, and flooding. No solvent dilution is required to achieve application viscosity. And, it's pretty safe to use! No flash-proof equipment needed, and there are no risk or safety phrases associated with it.

Let us know if you need it!

Dancing robots

2007-07-05T16:44:00.001+01:00

Usually, our dispensing robots are concerned with more mundane tasks - like dispensing adhesives. But the creativity and humour of the French I&J Fisnar staff are well applied here, a trade show display. Make sure your sound is on for the best effect!

Araldite 2000 PLUS launches

2007-05-21T12:06:00.000+01:00

It's been a flurry of activity here for the last few weeks - we have been very pleased to be a part of the launch of the new Araldite 2000 PLUS range of structural engineering adhesives. There was a global launch in Barcelona earlier in the month, a very impressive affair organised with supreme professionalism by the team at our sales partners, Huntsman Advanced Materials.

Last week, we took the opportunity of Nepcon at the NEC Birmingham to have our own UK press launch at the show - you can download our press release here.

Our Araldite 2000 PLUS stand at the show was the first public unveiling in the UK of the new range and product logo. It was very popular, with many visitors taking an interest in new adhesives with a focus on bonding plastics and metals. Our Araldite adhesives webpages have already been updated with the new information. See for yourself!

Coming soon - news at Nepcon

2007-04-30T18:01:00.000+01:00

It seems to be trade show season. Having just spent a good day exhibiting at the Fastening & Assembly Solutions Exhibition last week (there was a record turnout), we are in preparation for the next show in just a few weeks time.

We'll have a big and exciting product launch at Nepcon this year, May 15-17 at the NEC Birmingham. Click on the link to register for the show, and we'll see you there!

Good conductivity

2007-04-26T15:16:00.000+01:00

We have just updated the website with a Technical Bulletin describing the case for silicone conductive compounds, and why they have so many applications.

One product fairly new to the range is ACC AS1806, which is a single part thermally conductive silicone adhesive. It is a black paste, with a fast, neutral cure and good adhesion. It has an excellent thermal conductivity of 1.55 W/m·K.

It is used for electronics applications in aerospace, under bonnet automotive, consumer products and LED applications. Because of its neutral cure and the absence of any harmful by-products, ACC AS1806 is a perfect replacement for conventional oxime based silicone adhesives. A self-levelling version, ACC AS1803, is also available.

Visibly tamperproof in an instant

2007-04-16T14:51:00.000+01:00

A common requirement popped up again last week - the need to quickly tamperproof some enclosure screws with something which is visible and pretty permanent. Manufacturers want to do this to prevent casual tampering with the innards of their products. Another application is the fixing of the screws of adjustable components, like variable resistors or potentiometers. DYMAX 3086-RF seemed to fit this bill perfectly:

Very fast cure with UV light

Good adhesion to metal and hard plastics

When cured, is a hard polymer which is both red in colour and fluorescent

Solvent free - not only environmentally sound and safe to use, but no worries about solvents or vapours getting into the product

Comes in both free flowing and thick grades

Supplied in a dispensing syringe, it's easy to apply. Of course, if you want something like this but temporary, one of our UV cured masking products would do the trick.

In the swim, for a good cause

2007-03-16T17:19:00.001Z

Please join us in sponsoring our colleague and friend Blaine Bishop from Huntsman Advanced Materials in his Swimathon. It's for a great cause, the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity.

Blaine works with us selling the Araldite adhesives range. A buoyant personality, we are sure Blaine will keep afloat for 5 kilometers on March 24!

Heated discussion settled!

2007-03-16T15:52:00.000Z

Our expertise through the adhere program is becoming well known. Sometimes, we get thrown some interesting (if not always profitable!) questions:

I was wondering if it would be possible for you to settle a heated discussion. In which area of the aerospace industry are adhesives used? Is it only composite materials? Or is it also used in the structural aerospace industry? Your knowledge will be greatly appreciated.

The answer is: yes, structurally as well.

When a Scottish helicopter manufacturer needed an adhesive to bond the pre-preg moulded seat chassis they knew that to guarantee safety they had to pick the best performing and most reliable adhesive available. Araldite was the natural choice.

The shaped surfaces of the aluminum to carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (CFRE) joint were strongly bonded with Araldite after a simple preparation of degreasing and abrading of the contact surfaces. The resultant bond was a robust and vibration-resistant. Araldite is one of only a small number of safety-approved products deemed suitable for this high performance situation, and is a first choice for aviation designers in this field.

A fast cure for coatings - the user view

2007-03-15T19:11:00.000Z

Here's a clip of my old friend Tom Charlton of Electronic Coating Technologies, Canada, talking about why he uses DYMAX Conformal Coatings:
B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95" standby="Loading Windows Media Player
components..." type="application/x-oleobject" codebase="http://
activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/
nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,7,1112">

How many substrates are in your medical device assembly?

2007-02-22T17:51:00.000Z

That is the question which was asked recently by our Sales Partners DYMAX, in an advertisement introducing a new product in their range of adhesives for disposable medical devices, DYMAX MD® 1161-M.

The text is possibly too small to read in this reproduction for the blog, but it goes like this:

Design engineers strive to use materials that offer the absolute best performance in their medical devices. Unfortunately, this can create assembly challenges in their manufacturing process. The bonding options for various combinations of dissimilar substrates such as polycarbonate, stainless steel, PVC and polyurethane are limited and typically require the use of multiple adhesives or assembly methods.

DYMAX MD® light curing adhesive 1161-M provides a single solution for all these combinations. 1161-M permits engineers to use the best performing materials for their product designs and at the same time, optimize their assembly process. Discover a Better Assembly Solution. Discover DYMAX.

We thought it was a very simple, yet very powerful message!

Every year we get the runs

2007-02-20T09:43:00.000Z

The Flora London Marathon is coming up, and again one of our extended family needs your support. Last year, David Hewitt of sales partners ACC Silicones put in an impressive performance for his chosen charity.

This year, our own Internal Sales person Aaron Whitfield is on the blocks, and has already started wearing out his trainers in training. Can you beat Dave's time of 4 hours 16 minutes, Aaron?

Please join us in supporting Aaron's run for LOOK, The National Federation of Families with Visually Impaired Children.

Aaron on the run at a recent trade show