Posts Tagged ‘salt fog’

Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology Recognizes Cascade TEK Front Range for Innovative Product Testing Services

Friday, January 6th, 2012

The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) recognized Cascade TEK’s Front Range facility in Longmont, Colorado this month for our innovative product testing services.

Innovation at Cascade TEK testing facilities includes continued expansion and dedication to providing test equipment that meets the ever-changing needs of the Cascade TEK customer.

“Making sure we continuously expand test capabilities is crucial to the success of Front Range,” says Cascade Vice President Mary Babitz. “Our customer’s test requirements are ever changing. It’s our job to have the test equipment they need to help bring products to market as quickly as possible.”

By mid-January our Colorado laboratory will add several new pieces of equipment:

  • 2500lb capacity incline impact tester for ISTA package testing.
  • 40,000lbf electro-dynamic vibration system. (The 4th vibration system to come on line)
  • Free Fall Shock Tower

Front Range has acquired certification from the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA)for package testing, and provides a broad range of testing services for the automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical and packaging industries.

Our Colorado facility offers a wide variety of testing services, including vibration, shock, temperature and humidity, thermal shock, sand and dust, UV exposure, salt-fog, altitude, rapid decompression, g-force acceleration, IP (ingress protection)and ISTA package testing.

Click here to read more about our Cascade TEK’s Front Range laboratory in the CAMT newsletter!.

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Cascade TEK Helps Adidas Demonstrate Ruggedness of New Device Designed to Measure Athletic Performance

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Adidas has recently announced the launch of its new miCoach SPEED_CELL, a small device designed to live in the sole of your sport shoe and measure the speed, distance and time for both forward and lateral movement to help athletes study and improve athletic performance.

The device, a newly improved version of previous technologies, was tested for ruggedness and durability at Cascade TEK’s Testing Facility located in Hillsboro, Oregon—where it was found that the new SPEED_CELL stands up to the worst environmental conditions as recognized by the MIL-STD 810 test requirements. Cascade TEK testing of the SPEED_CELL included a laundry list of testing services: everything from Vibration and Shock Testing to high/low temperature tests, salt fog and corrosion testing and humidity tests were conducted to ensure the miCoach SPEED_CELL could withstand extreme temperature and environmental conditions without product breakdown.

“As a runner myself, it was fantastic to see the latest in digital sports technology survive even the harshest of real world conditions,” says Mary Babitz, Vice President of Cascade TEK. “At Cascade TEK, we’re pleased to know our testing services can help companies like Adidas demonstrate just how rugged their products really are.”

The device was designed at Adidas America which is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and is being hailed as the “latest innovation in digital sports technology” by the German-based international company. Previous versions of MI Coach devices have been available since 2008.

To learn more about the miCoach SPEED_CELL, visit Allan Brettman’s blog at OregonLive.com.

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Overview of Cascade TEK’s Product Testing Services.

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Here is our latest information on the new Cascade TEK Front Range, environmental, product testing facility in Longmont, Colorado.  This document will help you learn about Cascade TEK’s services, and accreditations as a full service product testing facility.

 

Our New Address:

Cascade TEK Front Range 

1530 Vista View Drive

Longmont, CO 80504

www.cascadetek.com

Download now or preview on posterous

Cascade-Tek-Front-Range.pdf (365 KB)

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RTCA DO-160 Moves to Rev G in Dec 2010

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I attended a EMC Technical Seminar last month in Seattle.  Dave Walen, FAA gave a great presentation on DO-160.  Since so many of our customers use DO-160 as a test guideline for aircraft equipment, I thought I’d share my notes (at least the ones I can make out):

RTCA DO-160 will go to Rev G around December 2010.  No major changes, but Rev G will  have a User Guide that shares tribal knowledge for each of the 26 sections in RTCA DO-160.  Check out the FAA Advisory Circular AC-21-16F at www.faa.gov for information on the different revision levels of RTCA-DO-160.

Did you know? 

  • The DO-160 test specification is a STANDARD for demonstrating procedures/conditions for aircraft equipment.  It is not an APPROVAL to install equipment on aircraft.  Approvals fall under FAA.  FAA encourages use of DO-160.  Boeing, Airbus, etc… tend to have their own standards/requirements.
  • Section 23 Lightning Direct Effects:  Lightning strikes an aircraft once every 3000 hours in today’s world.
  • DO-160 is actually a consensus agreement on procedures and test conditions.  Everyone on the RTCA committee must agree.  No wonder revisions take 3-4 years!

Cascade TEK performs DO-160 testing such as altitude, crash safety, temperature variation, vibration, waterproofness, sand and dust, salt fog, icing and fluids susceptibility.

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Five Reasons to Outsource Product Reliability Testing

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Many companies have their own test equipment in house. If that is the case, when is a good time to consider utilizing the services of an outside lab? We’ve listed some below:

1. Save Time – Run Tests in Parallel
The test lab is ready to go. The equipment is dedicated to you, in good working order, calibrated and all the test documentation ready. Consider bringing multiple units to run a variety of tests at the same time. For example, start a Temperature Cycle Test on one unit and a Salt-Fog Test on another. This saves time and hassle associated with scheduling and administering the test in house. Outsourcing also a great way to handle overflow or back-logged test requirements. Running your tests at an outside lab will get the job done faster than waiting for the R&D Department to finish using the test chamber.

2. One Stop Shop
Often a testing program will require a wide variety of tests to be done in a certain sequence. A well equipped test lab will manage the logistics and schedule. If a certain test must be sent to another facility, the Test Lab has the resources to handle the coordination and keep the program on schedule.

3. Professional Quality Data
The Formal Test Report, or Test Certification document is the most important part of your test. Working with an outside lab gives you high quality, professional test data to release to your customers. This is also relieves you from time consuming paperwork.

4. Perform Only Accepted & Appropriate Tests – Consultative Expertise
An accredited test lab has a wide scope of industry and testing knowledge. Often test requirements are not well defined or succumb to “that’s the way we’ve always done it”. Reviewing the required tests up front with the Lab Manager can determine if a better or more industry appropriate test profile should be done.

5. Credible Results – Third Party Accreditation
Working with accredited test labs that are consistently audited by 3rd party organizations gives credibility to the test data and insures the lab is qualified to perform each test. For example, Cascade TEK is certified by A2LA, ISTA , and the Department of Defense.

For more information about the tests offered at Cascade TEK, visit our testing page.

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