Glamox entrusts product reliability and stress testing to Nemko

For decades now, Glamox has been relying on Nemko to test and ensure the correct intended performance of new products in development. This helps guarantee the safety and durability of our product assortment, even under stress, vibrations and extreme temperatures.

Nemko is a Norwegian company with a global network of experts and partners that offers testing, inspection and certification services for various products and systems. It’s the go-to testing entity whenever Glamox wants to receive answers to questions about EMC performance, reliability and stress testing.

This is exceptionally important for products designed for use in extreme maritime conditions. It’s crucial to ensure that severe weather in marine and offshore environments will not make the lighting products susceptible to failure or malfunction.

Nemko has recently added two advanced capabilities to their testing portfolio – the HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test) and HASS (Highly Accelerated Stress Screen). The HALT/HASS testing chamber combines both extreme temperature cycling and exposes the products to repetitive shocks and vibrations, which significantly speeds upo the stress testing process. These tests are done simultaneously to simulate real life conditions, where many stress factors happen at the same time. This makes it possible to discover potential failure modes and design flaws in the products. When conducted early in the design process, these tests can shorten the product development timeline and reduce the total development costs while also minimising the risk of manufacturing substandard products. By determining the design limitations early on, Glamox can make the necessary changes to deliver only the most reliable, well-functioning and robust marine lighting equipment.

HALT/HASS tests were recently conducted on the Glamox FL70 floodlight for marine and offshore safe areas. This product features some extremely durable component within a powder-coated, anodised, seawater-resistant aluminium housing.

 

“Our customers want to have a product that’s durable for many years. This test proves that it really works”

Marlon Iversen, Product Manager at Glamox.

Robustness and reliability confirmed by a dependable partner

Nemko was selected as the testing entity for Glamox’ GMO products for a number of reasons. The highly qualified engineers employed by the company understand our testing needs and perform the tests using state-of-the-art equipment at their own testing labs, where they can simulate the harsh environments in which our products will ultimately be used. What’s more, Nemko has extensive experience in testing and certification, and they put great focus on excellent communication before, during and after completing the testing projects.

Nemko testing engineer Omar Runcie has two decades of experience in the evaluation and testing of advanced technologies. He has been performing specialised HALT/HASS testing for over eight years, while testing many different types of products manufactured to withstand extreme conditions.

HALT/HASS is a “test-to-fail” technique where a product is exposed to multiple cycles of rapidly changes of temperature – even from as low as -100°C up to 200°C – while being subjected to random extreme shocks and vibrations.

There are several benefits of HALT/HASS testing,” Runcie says. “First and foremost, the benefit is time. With this rapid testing, you can get an answer in two to five days, compared to weeks or months.”

“It is a destructive testing method designed to break your product,” he says. “With the breaking of the product, we then can go back and find the root cause of that break and help make the product more reliable.”

Some commonly seen flaws that can be discovered during HALT/HASS testing include weakness in mounting, sautering or the appearance of cracks. It’s crucial that these flaws are discovered and fixed before the products make it to production.

“The most satisfying part of my job is getting the answers from the tests that I perform, so I can help our customers. That’s why they come to us, for answers.” says Runcie.