Test Result Confirms: Peters Products Reach Highest Level

Project manager Holger Leiner in front of a hybrid company vehicle presenting a printed circuit board - both featuring high-quality conformal coatings from Peters.

Photo: Axel Küppers

Kempen, 26 March 2021

Conformal coatings from Peters meet highest standards in terms of their insulating effects. This applies not only to the ELPEGUARD® conformal coatings family, for example, but also to the solder resists of the ELPEPCB® Elpemer® range of products. Such is the positive result obtained within tests conducted by UL (Underwriters Laboratories), the US certification body, over several months. The certificate of the safety scientists is now being issued.

Specifically, the test procedure now completed was performed in accordance with the IEC 60664-3 standard. This standard relates to the insulation coordination for equipment with a nominal voltage of up to AC 1000 volts or DC 1500 volts that is connected to low-voltage networks. IEC 60664-3 specifies the conditions under which it is possible to reduce the dimensioning of clearances and creepage distances for rigid arrangements such as printed circuit boards or components' terminals.

"These requirements are of particular interest, amongst others, in the field of battery technology, and thus also in the field of e-mobility," reports Holger Leiner, a Project Manager of Peters' Application Technology Department. According to the engineer, the protection against contamination can be achieved by any type of encapsulation such as coating, casting or potting.

The IEC 60664-3 standard describes the requirements for two types of protection: The type 1 protection improves the microenvironment conditions for the parts located underneath the ink, while with type 2, the protection is considered as a solid insulation.

For the approval as type 2, additional tests were carried out in the UL laboratory in Fremont, California: A scratch test on the one hand, and an impulse withstand voltage test on the other. This permits to test the resistance to external mechanical influences, as well as the resistance of the coating to overvoltage.

Conclusion:

The tests carried out by the test service provider UL confirm that a comprehensive insulation is provided when Peters products are used based on the set standard procedure. For the overall structure, the ELPEGUARD® DSL 1600 E-FLZ/75 conformal coating combined with an underlying solder resist such as the ELPEPCB® Elpemer® of the 2467 series permits to achieve a protection level at upper limits for the overall system.