Diamond MT is a class 3 operating, fully functional coating operation with over 25 years of field experience. Our areas of expertise are within the military, commercial, bio-medical, and aerospace technology fields.
Rapid Turnaround
We are committed to serving the industry with rapid turn times for parylene, (normally 10 business days) with expedited service in as little as 2-5 business days depending upon the complexity and quantity. For liquid coatings, our normal turn time is five business days; again with expedite service in as little as 2-3 business day turns. » read more
Quality Assured
Diamond MT's quality manual ensures every employee is focused on continuous improvement and service excellence. Our ESD safe facilities stretch over 12,000 square feet dedicated to your conformal coating requirements. We are continually researching and updating our equipment to make sure we are providing the best ESD protection available. » read more
Parylene and the Cost Myth: Saving Time and Money
Cursory analysis may lead design and production engineers to the conclusion that Parylene coating is an expensive coating option compared to alternate materials. The cost to prepare and Parylene coat a complex part is typically more than protecting it with a basic acrylic, silicone or epoxy coating.
However, a less expensive coating process may not provide the necessary combination of adhesion, conformability, thermal performance, solvent resistance, surface lubricity, bio-compatibility, abrasion or flex resistance that Parylene can.
While Parylene coating may be overqualified for relatively simple coating tasks, it has a cost advantage over alternate coatings in many applications. The real price of a conformal coating protection is based on total cost of application, which includes the value of the coated part or assembly, the coating process, and the cost to the customer should the coating fail in operation.
There are also challenging coating applications where the ultimate cost advantage of Parylene coating may not be immediately clear. For example, one company recently found that a coated component in a military device was vulnerable to contamination and field failure, resulting in loss of a critical system function. While the selected liquid coating provided apparent protection, field experience showed that full system integrity required better coating performance.
Consequently, it was necessary to remove coated sub-assemblies in the field, disassemble; clean, Parylene coat, reassemble and transport back to distributed field locations for reintegration. Had Parylene been specified at the outset, the expense, delay and logistical complications would have been avoided.
A recent medical coating project also confirms the ultimate economy of Parylene coating. In this case, the design called for a coated surgical device to withstand 100 or more autoclave sterilization cycles to make the part usable for at least 100 surgical procedures. The ability of less-costly alternate coatings to satisfy this demanding standard was marginal, and testing confirmed that Parylene coating could maintain protection for more than 1,000 autoclave cycles – well beyond the practical life of the coated device itself.
While Parylene coating was more costly at the outset, it ultimately contributed significant savings in this medical coating application by greatly prolonging the productive life of a costly device. Recent advancements in masking materials and methods, along with a trend to lower Parylene raw material cost make Parylene coating more and more competitive as a high performance coating alternative, even in applications that might previously have been considered inappropriate for this sophisticated process. Please contact DMT so we may help you realize the value of parylene coating over alternative coatings for your specific product.