Accurate and reliable potting for automotive lighting

To support Venta Global with the efficient potting of PCBs for a high-power outdoor LED light, Intertronics supplied the IRS 3078 polyurethane potting compound and the 2-K-DOS metering, mixing and dispensing system.

The solution enabled a straightforward process that provided the required repeatability and accuracy, with reduced cost per gram of material due to bulk packaging.

Venta Global is a tier one supplier of lighting solutions to vehicle and machinery manufacturers, offering a complete service from custom design, to delivery. It has made significant investment into new technology for its UK production facility in Hampshire that deskills processes to enable consistent and reliable results, removes inconsistencies due to operator variance, and allows future scalability.

The company required a potting compound which could adhere to their choice of substrates and provide a seal to protect against environmental contaminants and water ingress. Venta Global discussed the requirements of the project with Intertronics, who they had previously collaborated with on a gasketing project.

Intertronics recommended that Venta Global trial the adhere IRS 3078 polyurethane potting compound, a semi-rigid, room temperature curing, electrically insulating black material. Its low viscosity meant it could flow into all required areas of the product and its 1:1 mix ratio makes dispensing it, or automating the dispensing process, simpler

To dispense the material, Intertronics recommended the 2-K-DOS, which can accurately meter, mix, and dispense all in one system. The 2-K-DOS is programmable from a simple control panel, and users can set mix ratio, dispensing rate, and dispensed quantity to provide consistent, error-free metering, mixing, and dispensing. The system is designed with a unique modular approach, and Intertronics built it custom to the material and process, with appropriate material reservoir sizes and dispensing hose lengths.

“A commercial advantage of the 2-K-DOS is that Venta Global could benefit from the cost savings of 5 kg bulk kits of IRS3078, over the 50g side-by-side cartridges that had been used initially for testing, further reducing the payback period,” said Matthew Baseley, technical sales executive at Intertronics.

“In addition, the 2-K-DOS eliminates the need for time intensive, manual processes like weighing and mixing. The system can also be simply reconfigured to work with robots or further automation, should Venta need to increase positional accuracy in future.”

Roderick Dible, production manager at Venta Global, said: “We’ve had the machine for over a year now, and it has been running perfectly. At the touch of a button, we can dispense a fully homogeneous mixed and metered shot exactly where it’s needed. The Intertronics team were on hand to support throughout, and we benefitted from their technical knowledge, support, and responsiveness. This coupled with the commercial support means I am sure it will not be our last collaboration.”