Manual Injection System (Not Standard - Contact Factory For Information About This Option) - THORLABS vytran PTR406 User Manual

Fiber Recoaters with Linear Proof Testers
9. After the pump has completed its Purge
cycles, the Inject Tube that runs from the
pump to the mold must also be filled with
recoat material and purged of air. Raise the
recoat mold top and make sure to have
cotton swabs and cleaning solution (alcohol
or acetone) available prior to proceeding.
10. Set the recoat inject rate to 1.8 µl/sec
(Recoat Parameters menu). Make sure to
take note of the original inject rate, as this
will need to be set back after this process is
completed.
11. Set the inject quantity to 50 µl (edit Inject
Parameters in the Handset Controller).
12. Execute the Inject command (press Inject
button on the Handset Controller).
13. Watch for recoat material to emerge from
the mold inject port. Make sure to collect
the recoat material with a cotton swab as it
comes out of the mold injection port. Do not
allow recoat material to run down the face
of the mold and under the mold plate.
14. Execute three (3) additional "Inject 50" sequences to purge air completely from the Inject Tube.
Note: Because the injection pump holds 100 µl of recoat material, there will be a delay of approximately
one minute between the second and third inject sequences while the pump refills.
15. After purging the Inject Tube, the recoat material should run freely from the mold without bubbles. If bubbles
are still present, run additional inject sequences.
16. Once the pump and the Inject Tube are purged, clean the mold plates of all excess recoat material (see
Chapter 6.9.1).
17. Reset the inject rate to its original setting.
Note: Because the syringe in the recoat pump is mounted vertically, it is possible that an air bubble may still be
trapped at the tip of the syringe after the above priming process. This air bubble will very slowly rise to the top of
the syringe, after which time it can be Purged out. It is therefore recommended that at least one (1) additional Purge
cycle is run the next day after the initial priming of the system.
8.5. Manual Injection System (Not Standard – Contact Factory for Information about
This Option)
In this configuration, the injection port must be filled with UV acrylate material prior to placing the fiber in the recoat
mold. The injection port can be filled by using a syringe (supplied with the injection plunger) to dispense the UV
material. Care must be taken to prevent the formation of bubbles in the UV material when loading both the syringe
and the injection port.
To load the injection port, use the following procedures (see Figure 36):
1. Fill the syringe by inserting the tip into the bottle of UV material. Make sure that the tip is immersed in the
material and slowly draw out the plunger.
2. If an air bubble gets trapped within the syringe, turn the syringe upside down for several minutes to allow
the bubble to rise to the tip. Gently push in on the plunger to force out the air bubble.
3. Remove the threaded plunger form the injection port.
4. Slowly dispense material from the syringe into the injection port. Make sure not to trap or inject air bubbles
in the port. A good procedure is to dispense a small drop of recoat material at the tip of the syringe and
then touch the drop to the inside back surface of the injection port. Give the material time to flow down into
the inject port – repeating with additional drops until material almost reaches the top. Some room should
be left at the top in order to insert the O-ring plunger. If too much material is dispensed into the port such
that it protrudes above the top, insert a small scrap piece of fiber into the port to remove some material.
5. Raise the recoat top slightly and press the O-ring of the injection plunger into the port.
Rev A, September 14, 2020
Chapter 8: Priming the PTR406/PTR406B
Recoat Material Flow
Page 33