High Temperature Testing

We recently had a requirement to test some parts at 150C.  In order to do that, we use a temperature forcing probe.  This is a washing machine size box with an arm that holds a test chamber.  The machine can force hot and cold air into the test chamber, and allow us to raise the temperature to any desired value.  It is not fast, and can take a minute to reach the final temperature, but it works.

One problem is that the bottom of the temperature chamber is open, and so if we don’t do anything, we will also raise our tester to 150C.  Testers are finicky, and would prefer to be at 25C.  In order to prevent problems, we need a thermal insulator to put around the part.  They sell a rubber sheet that is pretty good, but rather expensive.  And we needed a solution that day.  So we went over to Bed, Bath and Beyond, and bought silicon cooking mats.  These were trimmed to the desired size, and augmented with a lower layer of insulator, and this worked fine.

We have a future requirement for testing parts at 175C.  In this case, we are beginning to exceed the temperature range of our probe, and so we will build an extension cable, and test parts directly in one of our ovens.  The silicon mats won’t be good for us, but the Bed Bath and Beyond oven mitts will definitely be useful.