Technical Bulletin June 09

UV Conformal Coatings and UV Curing
 
UV cure conformal coatings are solvent-free 100% solids materials, which, when exposed to the correct
wavelengths and intensities of Ultra violet (UV) light, cure quickly creating a tough, durable conformal coating.

All of the liquid conformal coating is converted into solid coating, unlike traditional solvent and water based
acrylic and polyurethane conformal coatings, which rely on evaporation of the solvent or water, before any
cross-linking mechanism can occur.

UV Curing of UV Conformal Coating Humiseal UV40 Conformal Coating

UV curing of conformal coatings is becoming increasingly
important for high volume users in fields such as
automotive and consumer electronics.
This increase in the popularity of UV curable conformal
coating is due to its rapid cure speed, level of processing
ease, environmental friendliness and thermal cycling
resistance, which have never before been achieved with
UV conformal coating materials.
The super fast curing times of UV conformal coatings
mean that productivity in the conformal coating process
can be massively increased.
HumiSeal’s new UV40 conformal coating is an
exciting innovation in UV curable chemistry that
provides performance superiority over traditional
UV curable conformal coating products.
Being 100% solventless, the NEW UV40 UV curing
conformal coating not only maintains the speed of
cure and environment-friendly nature that is
popular in today’s electronic fabrication, it also
offers advantages not found in existing UV curable
conformal coating products.

To take advantage of these benefits with products such

as Humiseal UV40 you need a conveyorised UV curing
system like the example below.

HumiSeal UV40 conformal coating provides:

• Higher IR (insulation resistance) and MIR

(moisture insulation resistance)
• Greater adhesion to a wide range of commonly
used solder resists

• Resistance to a wider range of solvents

• Greater flexibility at a wide range of

The UV100 UV conveyor shown is an inline conveyor temperatures
with SMEMA capability. It can utilise both top and • Does not become brittle at low temperatures
bottom side curing and uses pin or chain edge
conveyance. • A truly reliable secondary (shadow area)
moisture activated cure mechanism!
SCH Technologies is a Trading Name of SCH Services Limited 
Newburgh Building, McLintock Way, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S70 6BF 
 
Tel: +44 (0)1226 297711 Fax: +44 (0)1226 297733 
www.conformalcoating.co.uk  SCH Technologies are ISO9001 and ISO14001 certified
  
 

UV Curing
  Lamps: Microwave & Arc Lamp Technology
The two types of UV lamps available for curing UV
curable conformal coatings are UV Arc Lamps and UV
Microwave Lamps.
UV Curing Arc Lamps
The UV Arc Lamps are much lower in capital cost
compared to the UV Microwave Lamp systems. The
life time of a UV bulb is approx 500-1000 hours,
depending how the UV lamp system is used, and, after
this time the output power will degrade to be about
60% of the initial value.
UV Microwave Lamps
The UV Microwave lamp bulb will last much longer
than UV Arc lamp technology. Depending on the
model, lifetime of the bulb can be quoted between
4000-8000 hours and one model guarantees 9000
hours. During this time there is very little power
degradation. The UV lamp will not extinguish until the
end of its life in this time period and the cost for the
bulbs are similar.

This drop in power can be critical if the speed of the

UV conveyor is approaching the limit of the UV cure
ability of the lamp and the UV conformal coating and
may need to be monitored. If the UV system is run slow
enough this may not be an issue (relative to heat cure
a slow speed is still pretty fast!).

Generally, if cost is an issue then UV Arc lamps are

recommended, especially if there is low volume use
and high speed is not critical.

For high volume, high speed applications, UV

Microwave Lamps are recommended since it is more
economic over time and no maintenance is involved
in monitoring the UV output.

SCH Technologies offer

Typical Arc Lamp for curing conformal coating • Conformal coating Subcontract Services
The cost for replacement of UV bulbs is typically low • Global supply of Conformal Coating
depending upon the lamp fill, and a similar price to Application Equipment
the microwave bulbs.
• Humiseal Conformal Coatings
It must also be noted that UV Arc Lamps also run a
• Conformal Coating Training courses
little hotter than the UV Microwave Lamps.
Consultation & troubleshooting

PLEASE CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR DETAILS

www.conformalcoating.co.uk
Future Bulletins

• Automated Conformal coating inspection. How effective is it?

• Conformal coating CTI (Comparative Tracking Index).

SCH Technologies is a Trading Name of SCH Services Limited 
Newburgh Building, McLintock Way, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S70 6BF 
 
Tel: +44 (0)1226 297711 Fax: +44 (0)1226 297733 
www.conformalcoating.co.uk  SCH Technologies are ISO9001 and ISO14001 certified