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Reliability with Two-Shot Moulding

Molex recently conducted a survey of agricultural vehicle manufacturers which found that a staggering 90% of connector failures that occurred – both whilst manufacturing agricultural vehicles and during field-use – stem from issues with sealing. During agricultural vehicle production, seals will fail on somewhere between 25 and 500 out of every 1,000 connectors; and of those vehicles that make it into the field fully connected as it were, between 10 and 20 more sealing failures will occur in every 1,000 connectors.

That is a lot of failures, particularly when you consider that the only thing that matters for an agricultural vehicle is durability – working long hours in dirty, wet and harsh conditions is the norm. They have to stand up to daily contact with fuel, dust, chemical contaminants and high-pressure wash-downs, all of which can put serious strain on the vehicle’s complex connection systems. Protecting these systems makes connector sealing critical.

Traditionally, the same sealed connector system has been used in agricultural vehicle manufacturing for decades. But the vehicles themselves have become far more electrically complex, adding more and more connections, all of which are prone to sealing failures. Interestingly, as the problem of seal failures in agricultural vehicles increased, industry experts worked to identify the root cause. It turned out that the silicone seal material was being chemically eroded, which then caused loss of adhesion and, ultimately, separation between the connector body and the seal. This loss of seal effectively renders the seal and connector useless, so another method was needed.

Molex understood the problem and set about finding a way to solve it. Through a global, collaborative team effort, Molex created a seal that cannot come unstuck and is inseparable from the body of the connector.

To achieve this for its range of ML-XT™ Sealed Connectors, Molex invested in LSR two-shot moulding technology. This allows LSR to be moulded directly onto a substrate (which itself has just been moulded) using the same mould and injection materials. This moulding technology integrates the functions, parts and materials into a single component, fused by a molecular bond.

Ground-breaking new products like the ML-XT™ Sealed Connector System from Molex mean AGV manufacturers can massively reduce sealing failures and protect their valuable electronic systems far more effectively than ever before.

Connector Geek is Dave in real life. After three decades in the industry, Dave still likes talking about connectors almost as much as being a Dad to his two kids. He still loves Lego too. And guitars.
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