Thermal shock and damp-heat cycling for automotive-grade connectors

Background

The customer supplies connectors and harness assemblies to vehicle OEMs. A new programme required thermal shock and steady-state damp heat to ISO 16750-4, with complete temperature curves retained for PPAP submission. Their existing small chamber could not reach the ramp rates the programme demanded.

Solution

One three-zone thermal shock chamber (hot zone 150 °C, cold zone −40 °C, basket transfer ≤10 s) and one temperature-humidity chamber. Sample racks were made to the connector dimensions so harnesses are not loaded during transfer, and both chambers expose a data interface so curves can be exported per batch.

Implementation and validation

After siting, refrigerant and drain work, the site completed 1000 thermal shock cycles and 1000 hours of steady-state damp heat. Temperature overshoot stayed within 3 °C and humidity within ±3 %RH.

Outcome

The new programme passed PPAP review first time. The laboratory moved from pre-validation only to issuing reports that go directly to the OEM, and external test spend fell by roughly 60 %.