Desiccators

Door Alignment

Proper alignment of doors will prevent excessive gas escape and ensure door sensor alignment. Some leakage, however, is normal. Because cabinets operate under varying degrees of positive pressure, Terra door gaskets are designed to allow controlled gas escape.

All cabinets are checked prior to packaging to ensure proper door alignment. However, they can come out of alignment during shipping due to the inherent flexibility of plastic.

Doors feature sensor magnets that must be aligned with the associated sensor on the desiccator door. If these magnets are misaligned, the Dual Purge™ system may not function properly, and door seals may not seat properly, allowing nitrogen leakage.

On a properly aligned, level cabinet, all door latches are engaged directly

• What is electrostatic discharge?
• How is it generated?
• How does it damage microelectronic devices?
• How can it be controlled?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of static control methods available today?

Why all the Static?

Static electricity is an excess or deficiency of electrons on a surface. The total number of deficient or excess electrons determines the charge on that surface. A surface exhibiting an excess of electrons is charged negatively, and an electron-deficient surface is charged positively.

How are Electrostatic Charges Generated?

Electrostatic charges are usually generated by friction between and/or separation of two dissimilar materials, at least one of which is a nonconductor or a poor conductor of electricity. The accumulated charge (static) resides on the surface of, rather than within, the charged nonconductive object.

Terra offers a comprehensive range of application-specific desiccator cabinets and nitrogen control systems. These performance concepts will help you select the system right for your application.

Nitrogen is the standard medium for contamination-free storage because it is relatively inert—it neither reacts with stored materials nor carries moisture—and because it can be isolated and purified relatively inexpensively.

Desiccator cabinets must be set up so that an appropriate flow of nitrogen forces out all moisture- and contamination-laden air. Because nitrogen has a lower specific gravity than air, it is introduced into the upper section of the desiccator; the heavier air is then purged out of the bottom.

Failure to maintain the appropriate

Compare Terra's Advanced Designs and Fabrication Experience

At first glance, most desiccators look pretty similar. It's not until you put them into service—and fill them with delicate, expensive parts—that differences in quality become apparent.

When you invest in a Terra desiccator cabinet, you benefit from 40 years of design innovation and manufacturing experience. Simply put: Terra desiccators function better and function longer.

Doors

Terra's stainless steel door frames eliminate

Why Choose Desiccator Storage?

As critical components become smaller and more sophisticated, their susceptibility to moisture damage increases.

Once absorbed by sensitive components, water creates a number of potentially disastrous conditions. Even minute traces of oxidation, the most notorious result of moisture exposure, can degrade soldering and other manufacturing processes. Because water dissolves ionic contaminants, it also alters the conductivity of the material, which in turn can degrade electrical function. Water also combines with other materials, causing harmful chemical reactions that degrade pharmaceutical samples and chemical mixtures.

"Popcorn Effect": Moisture Damage in IC Production

One particularly costly example of moisture-related damage is the "popcorn" effect that occurs during reflow soldering of IC packages.

Although the vast majority of integrated circuits are packaged in plastic encapsulants