What is Conformal Coating?

By Cathy Mack
Customer Service Manager

ACR prides itself on building products that not only meet the specifications, but more importantly, that work when needed. Building products that meet consumer expectations and that work when needed often times requires incorporating production techniques that are not required, may be expensive, but make a lot of sense.  Conformal Coating is one such technique.  It may very well be the reason why your Firefly^®₃ Strobe Light, GlobalFix™ 406 MHz EPIRB or RCL-100D Search Light works when all else has failed…

Every time you open your Firefly^®₃ for example, you expose the internal components to potential contamination from humidity, seawater and a wide variety of vapors and solvents.  The contaminant needs only a few dissolved ions to become conductive and allow electrochemical reactions or corrosion to start. Besides humidity and other air-born contaminants, conformal coatings provide protection from vibration and shock.  Ultimately, this prevents short circuits and corrosion of conductors and solder joints that could prevent a life-saving product from working as intended when needed.

Conformal coatings are materials applied in thin layers onto printed circuit boards (PCB) or other electronic substrates. They provide protection and significantly extend the life of the components and circuitry.  ACR uses silicon and applies it robotically in an environmentally friendly manner.  This silicone layer preserves the PCB in like-new condition even though you may "fit and forget" your product for many years.

Conformal coatings are particularly useful for protecting circuitry in severe-service environments for which ACR's products are designed to operate. These severe conditions range from every day temperature and humidity extremes to the more harsh extremes demanded in Military, Marine, Aviation or Outdoor Search and Rescue electronic devices.

Protecting the circuit with conformal coating is one of the most effective ways to extend the life of the electronics in harsh-use environments. Documented over decades of use in the marine industry in many different applications and use situations, conformal coating makes it easier to build products that must work the first time, every time.  Conformal Coating helps to insure that ACR’s life saving EPIRBs, Radios, Search Lights, Firefly^®₃ Strobes and many other products work when all else has failed.  No agency or standard requires that emergency electronics be conformal coated. ACR does it because we build quality products knowing they are used to save lives.  The next time you are in the market for an EPIRB, strobe light or Personal Locator Beacon, make sure to look for Conformal Coated Printed Circuit Boards…it may well be why your product works when needed many years from now.