We make plastic testing easy for you
Plastic products and surfaces are everywhere. They are used in any industry, profession, and home. However, not all products, surfaces, and conditions are the same. With us, you can be sure that your plastic products will perform as they should.
Plastic products often function as protection for sensitive electronic assemblies and with design, either as a functional or decorative item for the consumer. There are many manufacturing methods for molding plastic, but for example, an injection-molded plastic part can be associated with different stresses in the plastic material.
How we can help with your plastic product:
Water- and dust tightness test
The most common tests for plastic cases are water and dust tightness tests. At Toptester, we perform these tests according to the IEC 60529 or IEC 60598 standard.
The IEC 60529 standard is a general tightness testing standard for enclosure structures. The IEC 60598 standard is a tightness testing standard intended explicitly for lighting. The tests of the IEC 60598 standard generally follow the tests of the IEC 60529 standard, and the most significant exception is the electrical safety testing performed after the tests. We serve the test with a CE-Multitester as required by the standard.
Chemical test
Chemical exposure to a plastic product can happen, for example, through the hands of the person using the product, during cleaning, or, for instance, while moving in nature and using mosquito repellent products.
We run the chemical stress tests, for example, by brushing the desired chemical on the surface of the plastic product and moving the product to a temperature cabinet. To accelerate the chemical reaction in the plastic, we increase the temperature in the climate chamber. After the test, the product will be examined visually, for example, in terms of prints, surface quality, and gloss. After the test, we can also perform official IK impact tests on the product. Tensile tests performed with the Lloyd material tester are also suitable to be performed at the end of chemical exposure.
Wind and Rain test
If your product is placed outdoors and exposed to storms, we offer a wind and rain test for this. The test is performed either according to the Telcordia or MIL standard.
The product is exposed to strong wind and rain from four or six directions during the test. Our test engineer checks the product’s functionality and visual condition at the end of the test. The product is also opened and checked that no water has gotten inside the product.
Vibration test
Have you considered whether your plastic product will be in an environment exposed to vibration?
Some examples of such environments are vehicles, poles, or bridges, where traffic causes constant vibrations.
With the help of the Tira-shaker, we can vibrate the product according to the typical vibration that occurs in trains or vehicles, for example. In our laboratory, we measure the vibration according to the actual measuring data provided by the customer. Several different standards govern these tests.
Temperature test
In temperature testing, the operation of the plastic product is checked against the desired temperatures. Typically, temperature and humidity tests are governed by the IEC 60068 standards. In this test, we use environmental cabinets, more familiar weather cabinets, to create the desired temperature. In this test, the operation of the plastic product can be verified, for example, in the following conditions: temperature +60˚C and humidity 93% or another instance of cold: temperature -40˚C and holding time 24 hours. This test procedure gives a reasonably comprehensive picture of the operation of the plastic product in hot and cold temperatures, and there are fewer surprises for the end user.
One of the plastic tests at Toptester is the 85/85 test, where we test the plastic product at 85 degrees heat and 85% relative humidity. If your goal is to determine the lifespan of your plastic product of 8-10 years, we’ll find it out by doing the same test extended to 1000 hours. The mentioned values greatly accelerate the aging of the plastic product. Read more about temperature testing.
IK impact test
Our official accredited IK impact tests are for you if you need to determine whether a plastic product or a case is impact resistant.
The SFS-EN 62262 standard governs impact tests. In the impact test, a test engineer drops a loose weight on the product in a controlled manner. Read more about shock tests.
Fire test
Another way to test the reliability of a plastic product is by running a fire test. Fire tests typically use an external flame to ignite the product. After this, the test engineer turns off the external flame, starts the timer, and monitors how long the product burns without an outer flame. Toptester has fire test facilities for controlled fire tests.
Test results
During the lifespan of a plastic product, it is exposed to different conditions and chemicals. If you want to be aware of the functional and visual features your product may become during its lifetime; our material testing service is the answer. Our experts usually run these tests before the actual environmental tests, so we can see how plastic as a material has changed. With LLoyd material testers, we can stretch a plastic product to its yield and breaking point.