The Situation
A global leader in laser systems was experiencing intermittent device failure which was impacting their brand reputation. They traced the root cause to enclosure o-rings but were unable to predict or control the frequency of failures.
The Ask
Propose a solution to control the problem.
The Solution
We determined that the customer had under-specified their FKM seals resulting in commoditization of this critical component. Seals from different sources outgassed volatiles to different degrees. The volatiles condensed on critical optical components thus killing laser performance. We worked to quantify FKM outgassing characteristics and single-sourced the optimal formulation. Additionally, we provided post manufacturing operations to minimize VOC extractables.
The Success
- Consistent and predictable laser performance.
- Customer’s product reliability reputation restored.
- Ongoing predictable seal performance is assured regardless of influences inside and outside the supply chain by deploying Darcoid’s Seal Performance Creep controls
