EPOXY: Blog Articles

Errors in epoxy processes (mixing, dispensing / application, curing schedules, etc.) can lead to premature bond failures which negatively impact the reliability of any cable assembly. In response to our industry needs for the most timely information and ...

Perhaps one of the most maddening things about a mixed material is entrained bubbles.  Depending on how you mix, you may entrain none, or a ton of them.  You want to stab them, push them and blow on them.  Anything to break them.  But in many...

Epoxy is a permanent adhesive.  When properly chosen for your application and substrates, and properly cured, it will form a strong, permanent bond.  At times though, you may find that you need to recover bonded parts or clean parts to remove excess cured...

When working with epoxies and adhesives, there are several consistent areas that beg for clarity. FOC knows because we generally field those questions and concerns. Among the top of that list are: Room temperature storage best practices, Storage methods...

From time to time, FOC has been asked to recommend a pigment that can be safely added to UV curable coatings as well as offer advice about what ratio of pigment to coating is acceptable without compromising the integrity of the coating. As communicated by our...

Fabricating fiber optic cable assemblies is still in large part a manual process, requiring knowledge and skill. When something in the process goes awry, an investigation is needed to identify and address the cause. Recently, our team of experts met to discuss...

"How do I know what curing schedule I should use?” This is a common question that fiber optic cable assembly houses ask – and it’s a particularly good question. Why? When our customers ask this question, it tells us they are focusing on a critical aspect of...

When fiber optic cable assembly manufacturers ask us to help troubleshoot their epoxy curing issues, we find that some problems stem from improper mixing of epoxy. Other problems arise from lax cleaning procedures or improper dispensing of epoxy...

Too often, the process of bonding optical fiber to a ferrule – the epoxy step – is treated as an afterthought in fiber optic cable assembly houses. However, this is an extremely critical step in the assembly process, since it is a major factor in determining...

The glass transition, Tg, is the temperature at which cured epoxies go from being rigid and glassy to being rubbery and more flexible. Most of us think of cured epoxies as being pretty hard (Shore D) materials; and they are, due to the crosslinked nature of their...