|
A large Taiwanese manufacturer came to us in 2004 looking for a low-cost / high-productivity method to leak test their brazed-plate heat exchangers. The design of these units poses an interesting challenge; they must be checked for external as well as internal leaks (from outside to inside and from circuit to circuit internally, with some units having up to 3 independent internal circuits). The old method of water testing could find the external leaks, but made it virtually impossible to detect an internal leak.
This issue was compounded by a high production rate of one piece every 45 seconds, and forced them to consider an automatic helium leak test system. After considering alternative technologies available, they selected the VTech MasSpec outside-in helium leak test system.
The VTech MasSpec is a simpler, cost effective alternative to inside-out vacuum chamber leak testing. Instead of evacuating a chamber, the component is evacuated and surrounded with helium. The gas will pass through any leak present in the coil and be detected by the mass-spectrometer. We designed special docking connectors to speed-up part loading/unloading.
A second machine was installed in 2008, demonstrating the viability of this technology.
|
