Industrial leak testing covers a wide range of accuracies, from helium leak detectors, which count flow in atoms, to pressure or vacuum decay testers, which evaluate flow. Pressure and vacuum decay leak detectors have become popular due to their lower cost, speed and simple setup. For most in-process verfications, these leak testers provide ample accuracy to ensure product quality.

With all leak testing performed under automatic conditions, fixturing is a key element of the process. The fixture must adequately isolate the volume to be tested, but be easily loaded and unloaded with automation. With pressure or vacuum decay testers, fixturing may involve placing a sealed face against a test surface, or placing the entire assembly within a test vessel. For consumer products, a popular approach is to pierce the product through an elastomeric septum with a small needle.

Benefits

In-process leak testing provides many benefits to high-volume manufacturing.  Some of these benefits are:

• Immediate feedback on seal integrity or weld quality;
• No wet or bubble testing;
• 100% verification of all production.

Piercing Leak Test Station

Needle Closeup