Products Finishing

SEP 2017

Products Finishing magazine is the No. 1 industrial finishing publication in the world. We keep our readers informed about the latest news and trends in plating, painting, powder coating, anodizing, electrocoating, parts cleaning, and pretreatment.

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Electronic Plating: OutREACH or OverREACH? U.S. chemical companies can benefit from compliance with the European regulation. The European Union's Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals regulation, better known as REACH, is now reality for the 28 countries of the EU and three others that follow its lead. Some U.S. chemical companies decry it as burdensome, but those who comply gain access to a market with a population of 743 million—and bragging rights in terms of environmental credentials and worker safety. The overall goal of REACH is to protect human health and the environment through better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. A secondary goal is to enhance innovation and competitiveness within the chemicals industry, especially among those companies that supply materials to the plating industry, including electronics and circuit boards. The REACH regulation tasks industry with the responsibility to manage the risks associated with chemicals and to provide safety information. It requires that manufacturers and importers gather information on the properties of their chemicals and register that information in an established database. The regulation also calls for substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when there are suitable alternatives. For many years, companies made and marketed substances in Europe, sometimes in great quantities, without providing sufficient information on their potential hazards to human health and the environment. The REACH regulation was developed to fill these information gaps and thereby ensure that industry can assess the risks associated with a substance and BY RICH DEPOTO UYEMURA USA 26 SEPTEMBER 2017 — PFonline.com Spring-loaded Contacts Spring-loaded contact systems are available for amperages ranging to 14,000 amps. These systems are based on two spring-mounted contact fingers on parallel contact halves. The distance between the spring-loaded fingers is slightly smaller than the rack, thus allowing the contact surfaces to be cleaned by abrasion. The weight of the bus bar when lifting allows it to be easily removed with little resistance from the fingers. Additionally, stainless steel covers protect the fingers from the plating chemicals while also acting as centering guides for movements such as a swinging flight bar as it enters the contact block. This contact block system is relatively inexpensive and can be designed in a variety of sizes ranging to 5,000 amps per contact block; a reinforced cast block with integrated guides for amperages to 14,000 amps also is available. Pneumatically controlled contact blocks are the next step toward increasing current transfer. Available in a finger contact design or a plate contact design, they are designed for transferring large currents as well as for very light flight bars. Poor contact pressure at a clamping connection combined with the cross section, material and surface condition, are the essential factors responsible for electrical resistance and power losses. Electrical resistance decreases with increased pressure, brought about by the further evolution of the contact block using hydro-pneumatic power. This allows clamping pressure as strong as 10 tons for a 5,000-amp contact at 90 psi. This clamping pressure is exponentially higher than with a spring-loaded or pneumatically controlled contact block, making them ideal for transferring current in applications ranging from 3,000 to 15,000 amps and more. Achieving Consistent Quality Consistent quality in any plating process is negatively affected by corrosion. Exposing contact surfaces to this environment leads to increased electrical resistance, heat-related problems and even the destruction of individual components. Optimizing automated process flow, and minimizing repair and main- tenance costs requires cleaning systems. Hand cleaners can quickly clean finger contacts or other contact surfaces, and flight bar supports at the rinsing tanks can also be substituted with cleaning saddles, ensuring that the flight bar is automati- cally cleaned before the next plating or anodizing cycle. Overall, specifying the correct contact saddles, rack contacts and adequately sized cable connectors are impor- tant factors in full optimization of a plating or anodizing facility. By taking the time to make an informed decision up front, shops can save time and money, and improve produc- tion in the future. A.J. Schenk is vice president of sales for Intercon Enterprises, which partners with Druseidt Electrotechnik of Remscheid, Germany, to offer products and services to the North American market. Visit intercon1978.com. PLATING

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