Conformal coating application

Co-authors and contributors

    • Dr Lee Hitchens, Nexus
    • Karl Hardcasle, SCH Technologies
    • Kara DeConno, PVA
    • Jason Delaney, Curtiss Wright
    • Gordon Watson, SMS Automation
    • Bob Willis, Consultant

Conformal coatings can be applied to printed circuit boards in the production environment in many alternative ways.

Listed below are the common methods of applying the conformal coating materials.

Click on each to review each conformal coating application technique.

The non-atomised film coating valve is dependent on the direction of the valve travel
Conformal coatings can be applied in a variety of ways including brushing, dipping, spraying and vapour deposition application

The holistic approach to the application methods 

It is possible to split the different application methods and their suitability in many different ways including:

  • Compatibility with the conformal coating material
  • Design of the circuit board
  • Suitability to low, medium and high volume
  • Manual versus automatic process
  • Type of method of application
  • Level of control required

Each of the various methods has different advantages and disadvantages.

This relates to the holistic approach to conformal coating processing which states that you should consider the material, the application process and the circuit board together and not as three separate entities.

However, when considering the application methods it is possible to make some assumptions which help in selection.

Each of the conformal coating processes are reviewed separately by clicking on the links.

Links