EuroWire May 2020

Technology News

Green wire cleaning for plating and mirror-reflective finish

The PWC system from Decalub performs wire cleaning and polishing in-line with the wire drawing machine. A high level of cleanliness is obtained, allowing direct wire brass coating, copper coating and galvanising. The system incorporates new technology that enables normal cold plant water, or a light emulsion, to be converted into a cleaning medium, generating high-pressure wetting, contaminant extrusion, hydrodynamic cavitation displacement and contaminant flush out, used to clean dry or wet drawn wire at high speed in a completely green application, and providing a glossy wire finish in plating quality. The PWC system effectively removes lubricant residue from the base material and is particularly suitable for cleaning applications with wires drawn in severe conditions. For decorative, mirror-reflective wire applications, the system can be used with a light emulsion diluted at 3 to 5 per cent concentration. The PWC unit is compact and can be easily installed on the finishing (last) block of a wire drawing machine.

▲ ▲ Wire cleaning by PWC system

Decalub www.decalub.com

Using new wire processing equipment to increase cable assembly production Multi-Tek, Inc specialises in the

This has dramatically improved our crimp quality, as well as reduced the amount of time needed to correct set-up errors.” The company is also said to be impressed with Schleuniger’s MultiStrip 9480 and its versatility when processing multi-conductor cables with varied outside diameters. The indexing cutter head feature is often used to select blades appropriate for each application. “We found that the user interface on all machines is very well designed and consistent, which made it much simpler to train our employees on each new machine we’ve added,” said Mr Ferguson. Looking to the future, Mr Ferguson expects to see smaller wire harness manufacturers begin to take advantage of the networking and job management systems that have been used in larger facilities. He stated, “Our next project is to integrate our custom-built ERP system with our CrimpCenter 36 SP so that we can optimise our work orders, reduce changeover time and eliminate data entry steps.” Schleuniger, Inc www.schleuniger.com Multi-Tek, Inc www.multi-tek.com

of applications, wire sizes and cable types.” After purchasing and running Schleuniger’s UniStrip 2300, JacketStrip 8310 and StripCrimp 200 for several months, the company was pleased with the reliability of the machines and level of service and support provided. It decided to purchase several additional pieces of Schleuniger equipment over the next few years. From small bench-top wire strippers to a CrimpCenter 36 SP fully automated crimping machine, Multi-Tek now has a wide range of Schleuniger equipment. According to Mr Ferguson, “One of our biggest challenges had been processing small gauge wire on a Schleuniger

manufacture of low-voltage signal and power cable assemblies, primarily serving the semiconductor, industrial tooling and industrial electronics markets. Since its founding in 1995, the company has owned many different wire pro- cessing machines from multiple manufacturers. Multi-Tek was impressed with the longevity and user-friendly operation of its Schleuniger machines, so as its need for more equipment increased, it turned to Schleuniger. John Ferguson, engineering manager at Multi-Tek, explained, “Our production line has to adapt to a wide variety

competitor machine, especially when we had to deal with wire memory, which can make termination difficult.” the CrimpCenter 36 SP, Multi-Tek has reduced set-up times by 40 per cent and increased processing speed by 60 per cent. the CrimpCenter 36 SP is being able to monitor in real-time the data from the WireCam, SmartDetect module and Crimp Force Monitor on one screen, with historical data. Since upgrading to Mr Ferguson added, “My favourite feature with

▼ ▼ The CrimpCenter 36 SP

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May 2020