By Dr. David Smith
SilcoTek offers the finest inert coatings.
The key to reliability, a clean surface.
Case 1: A customer from the UK was frustrated with the long turnaround time and frequent necessity for SilcoTek to re-work a particular part, whereas the rest of their order coated fine.
Case 2: Another customer was pickling parts with nitric acid, but the SilcoTek coating would not meet bond specifications.
Case 3: A customer had good intentions to clean and prepare their parts so that SilcoTek would not have to clean; unfortunately, the over-the-counter cleaning solution left a residue.
There are literally hundreds of potential surface treatments and cleaning treatments that a customer’s part can be subjected to before it is received by SilcoTek for coating. The SilcoTek state-of-the-art cleaning systems and our extensive experience in preparing and cleaning parts is proven to effectively clean over 98% of the parts we receive on a daily basis. But the few parts with challenging, and often invisible surface contamination, extended processing times, increased cost, and potential poor reliability, may result.
There are two key points to keep in mind when considering surface quality of your part.
- Don't change your current machining/pre-cleaning process without talking to SilcoTek first.
- Confirm materials used and material/process compatibility before sending parts to SilcoTek.
Summary
Knowledge is power!
Armed with the right information, SilcoTek will be able to collaborate with the customer and make recommendations and/or process adjustments to solve the issue at hand. It is always SilcoTek's goal to provide the best quality coating every time, on time, and with zero disappointments. By building collaborative customer relationships to overcome technical challenges, we will accomplish that goal.
Learn more about how SilcoTek can improve the performance of your products.