Brooks Instrument Blog

Intersolar North America is just around the corner, and Brooks will be setting up shop at Booth 5648 (July 10-12, San Francisco). We’re introducing two new products that will have a big impact on the solar and semiconductor industries.

First up is the XacTorr CMX0 capacitance manometer, which is part of the Brooks XacTorr CMX family of capacitance manometers. These instruments provide solar and semiconductor manufacturers with highly stable and repeatable measurements for pressure sensitive processes. The XacTorr CMX0 offers users:

• An unheated option with full-scale ranges from 1,000 Torr to 100 mTorr
• Accuracy of 0.25% of reading
• Drop-in replacement
• Unique diagnostic features for preventative maintenance such as tracking remaining zero adjustment range to allow scheduled maintenance, reducing unplanned interruptions.

We’ll also be unveiling communication upgrades to the GF40/80, our highly modular, user-programmable mass flow controller designed for solar and thin-film processes.
The GF40/80 is now equipped with EtherCAT, a highly flexible network protocol that has been adopted by leading-edge manufacturers in the solar and microelectronics industries. A unique principle called “processing on the fly” gives EtherCAT some unique advantages. Because EtherCAT messages are passed before being processed in each node, EtherCAT operates at a high speed and efficiency. The process also creates flexibility in topology and incredible synchronization making it easier to network flow control and other devices for advanced process control and diagnostic capabilities.

We hope you’ll stop by and say hello. And, as a thank you for previewing a demo of our new products, you’ll get a free 4GB USB drive in the shape of a mass flow controller, of course. You can also check out our latest news about Intersolar North America here.

In my last post I talked about UL Listed versus Recognized.  This time we are going to take a look at the IP and NEMA ratings and what they mean.  With this information you should be able to decide what minimum level of protection you need for your application.

Let’s start with the basics.  What does IP and NEMA stand for?  IP stands for ingress protection and NEMA stands for National Electrical Manufacturers Association.  Both IP and NEMA are rating systems for equipment that might be exposed to liquids, rain, ice, corrosion and contaminates such as dust.

An IP number contains two numbers (i.e. IP65) in most instances which relate to the level of protection provided by an enclosure or housing.  The first number relates to protection from solids as follows: Read more…

Brooks Instrument knows a lot about agency approvals.  If you need a mass flow controller, mass flow meter, or pressure controller for a hose down or hazardous area requirement you came to the right place!  We not only have the approvals, but we can also help you understand which approval is right for your application.  For example, what’s the difference between UL ‘Listed’ and UL ‘Recognized’ and which one is right for my application?

Well the UL Listed products carry the following mark.

This means that the product has been tested by UL to nationally recognized Safety Standards and has been found to be free from reasonably foreseeable risk of fire, electric shock and related hazards in a Division 2 / Zone 2 environment.  The Brooks SLAMF Series thermal mass flow meter/mass flow controller and pressure controllers, and the Quantim IP65 Coriolis mass flow meter/mass flow controller products are all UL listed.

Read more…