Page 7 - EE Times Europe Magazine – November 2023

EE|Times EUROPE 7

COVER STORY
How EMC Tempest Solves

Tricky Interference Issues

By Gary Evans, CEO, Powell Electronics Europe

very morning, Bryan Cowdell of EMC Tempest comes into the EMI test • Custom designs are available on very
facility to help his clients determine whether their products are safe, short turnaround time.
• It adapts to common real-world issues,
reliable and ready to enter production. In an ideal world, every design e.g., bent pins, severe shock and vibration,
Ewould pass EMI testing on its first go. Of course, testing rarely goes and rough handling.
perfectly the first time. In most cases, once an issue has been flagged, design • The rugged design has been proven via
various MIL-STD & FAA/ DO-160C envi-
engineers must consider two key problems: cost and time. ronmental stress tests.
• It is extremely low-weight (typically <1 g).
As Cowdell noted, if a product needs EESeal uses Quell’s innovative electronic • The filter can be designed/modified very
“redesign and layout, that’s going to be a packaging technology, whereby a patented late in the design process.
lengthy and expensive process.” There is elastomeric body and interconnect system • No circuit board, substrate or brittle
also no guarantee that the redesign will pass suspends, isolates and protects discrete elec- materials of any kind are required.
EMC testing the second time around. There trical filtering components. The mating forces • Components and wiring are fully
aren’t shortcuts when it comes to solving EMI within a connector morph the surfaces of the embedded in protective silicone material;
issues: Either a product must return to the EESeal into a shape that mimics the cork-and- devices cannot “pop off” and will not be
design phase, or a filter needs to be applied. bottle structure of the connector interface. damaged during installation or use.
Design engineers must consider other fac- Made of resilient silicone rubber, Quell • All external and internal wiring is gold-
tors, too. They’re concerned with maintaining EESeals can be retrofitted inside a connector plated (50- to 70-microinch Au over Ni
the size and profile and performance of their in the field in seconds. No special tooling is flash per MIL-G-45204) and withstands
original design. Cowdell said he recommends required. Environmental and mechanical tests severe temperature ranges and exposure
an EESeal® EMI filter insert “when [designers conducted by independent laboratories show to many deteriorating influences, such as
are] out of options [or] when they need a fast, that even severe environments do not affect ozone, chemicals, aging and UV.
effective production solution.” the integrity of the inserts or host connectors. • There are no brittle spring metal contacts
EESeal and EESeal+ inserts are easy These are some of the benefits of an (e.g., BeCu), so the filter inserts can
retrofits that allow users to add custom filter EESeal: accommodate severe misalignment and
circuitry to a standard connector in seconds, • It can be easily installed in the field by mismatch without degradation and will
including EMI filtering, ESD/transient protec- non-expert personnel without special not be “sprung” by overstress during
tion, resistors, shorts, etc. One of the major tools (tools are available to facilitate installation or use.
benefits of an EESeal is that it’s an almost- installation for some connectors). Cowdell’s clients at EMC Tempest usually
invisible solution. Cowdell said his clients • It fits within the standard connector body. “have less than a week” to meet testing stan-
“love that [it’s] not even a millimeter” bigger • It maintains the environmental seal of the dards. He recommends EESeal filters because
than the connector. host connector. Quell “only needs a couple of days to design,
produce and get [the EESeals] here. Then I can
install [the filter] and show [my clients] that
they work, meaning no one needs to pull out
of testing or ruin their production schedule.”
Cowdell routinely uses EESeals to fix
EMI/RFI, ESD and some lightning compli-
ance problems in a variety of applications,
including military, aerospace, medical, trans-
portation, industrial and more. “I come into
it almost every day,” he concluded. “Today,
we had four servers going into a military
airplane, and the power supply was facing
IMAGE: EMC TEMPEST to pass without a filter, so I applied an EESeal,
test failure. There’s no way they were going
and now, it’s ready to ship.”
Quell’s EESeal and EESeal+ filter inserts are
available in Europe through distributor Powell
Electronics. ■

www.eetimes.eu | NOVEMBER 2023