Customer-Supplied Housing Feedthroughs | Douglas Electrical Components

In certain applications and industries, the existing design and format are irreversible, creating a mechanical challenge to integrate an electrical connection. Douglas Electrical Components has the design flexibility to manufacture a hermetic electrical feedthrough directly into a cast housing or customized housing using our epoxy technology. This creates a lightweight, low profile, hermetic electrical connection sealed against liquids and air. Our epoxy is extremely chemically resistant and bonds to a variety of cast and custom housing materials, including aluminums and plastics.

A common example for a direct cast housing is a fuel pump. Whether connecting directly to the pump or adding instrumentation to measure properties such as level, temperature or quality, a direct cast feedthrough can create a hermetic seal within the existing layout to make new installations as well as retrofits seamless.

FEATURES

Hermetically seal directly to cast or machined housings with complex geometries
Utilize virtually any conductor type including wires, cables, terminals, pins, flex circuits, optical fibers, and more
Combine different electrical connection types inside and outside the assembly for a more plug-and-play design
Seal to a variety of materials including stainless steel, cast or machined aluminum, plastic, or specialty alloys
Seal within confined spaces or in assemblies requiring a lightweight design

ADVANTAGES

Lowest profile amongst housing types
Lightest weight
Interfaces directly within existing or new hardware

DISADVANTAGES

Logistics
Not recommended for low production volumes

Can Douglas epoxy seal to materials other than stainless steel?

Yes. Our hermetic epoxy can hermetically seal using a variety of materials including aluminum, brass, stainless steel, specialty alloys, and materials such as plastic. It’s a unique capability compared to competing technologies that require a high temperature process to seal. For more information on epoxy based feedthroughs, download our whitepaper: Hermetic Seal Types

What are the advantages of a direct cast feedthrough design?

Systems with legacy hardware or footprints commonly require a cast feedthrough design. This reduces costs to redesign an entire assembly to incorporate hermetics. Direct cast designs can hermetically seal a variety of electrical connections in a very low profile. Check our image gallery to see some examples. Additionally, a direct cast design can reduce weight in the assembly versus incorporating multiple hermetic connectors.

Are direct cast designs available for high pressure applications?

Yes. Overall, our hermetic epoxy designs are available up to 15,000 PSI (1,000 bar), but are customer specific. Contact our technical sales engineers for more information.

What production volumes are required for direct cast feedthroughs?

Contact our technical sales engineers. While these are commonly used in OEM applications, it can be cost prohibitive for very low volume applications.

Images