Crystalline polymers cut costs for connectors

QUESTRA crystalline polymers from Dow Plastics are well suited for demanding applications in communications connectors. Oberg Arizona recently put the materials to the test molding communications connector housings to be used in LAN and telecommunications applications.

“We worked with QUESTRA EA513 resins, and were extremely pleased,” reports Chuck Schulthies, plastics manufacturing manager for Oberg Arizona. “Compared with competitive materials such as nylon and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), QUESTRA polymers are very easy to process.”

“Since filtered connectors require maximum internal volume to incorporate magnetic components, they will usually have thin walls that require very good dimensional integrity. After our first sample run of QUESTRA resins, we noticed that the part exhibited minimal though consistent shrinkage between the crystalline and amorphous phases, and no bowing or warpage, which is critical in this type of application.”

QUESTRA resins have identical shrink rates for both the amorphous and crystalline regions of the polymer, resulting in flatter, more dimensionally stable parts.

Dow Plastics 800-363-3500