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New Products: Vacuum Test Plug, Aluminum 4″ End-caps, and O-ring Pick

Hello!

Today we are very excited to announce a few new products, updates to thruster pricing, and some updates to current products. There’s also the second installment of our New Product Videos – take a look!

First on the list today is a neat part that allow you to quickly test the enclosures for a proper watertight seal. The part, called the “Vacuum Plug”, inserts into the enclosure vent, replacing the plug that normally keeps it sealed. The other end has a hose barb that attaches to a hand-operated or electric vacuum pump.

With the pump and the vacuum plug, you can remove air from the enclosure, creating a vacuum and simulating external pressure. By monitoring the pressure on a vacuum gauge, you can see if the seals are leaking or not. Even a single hair caught in the seal can cause a failure. Vacuum testing is a fantastic way to validate the enclosures and make sure that your electronics are safe!

The vacuum plug is made from anodized aluminum and comes with O-rings as well as a rubber stopper that can be used to plug the hole in the vacuum plug so that you can test the pump, hose, and plug separately from the enclosure to make sure they are sealed.

We’ve also got a few new end-cap options for the 4″ Series watertight enclosure product line. These two new end-caps are made from anodized aluminum instead of acrylic plastic. That makes them stronger and provides a better depth rating. The official depth rating is not yet determined, but we have tested them to a maximum of 200m depth so far (on a short enclosure). Additionally, aluminum is much easier to drill, tap, and machine so that you can add your own connectors and fittings. We have a 10-holed end-cap as well as a solid one.

Ever had trouble removing an O-ring from a groove? This nylon O-ring pick makes the job easy and, unlike metal tools, has no risk of scratching the groove in the process. It works great for the enclosures, penetrators, and just about any O-ring application.

The last update for today is a few minor improvements to the Blank Cable Penetrator and the Enclosure Vent. Both now have captive O-ring seals and wrench flats to assist with tightening. These improvements were already made to the 6mm cable penetrator a month ago.

Updates to Thruster Pricing

It’s been a year since we start shipping thrusters. We’ve learned a lot in that time and made some big improvements. We strive to keep our prices as low as we can, but we also have to make sure that our business does well and that we can continue to offer great products. Accordingly, we are raising prices by about 5-10% on regular thrusters and about 20% on thrusters with the BlueESC. This is due to the cost of some of the improvements we have made as well as overall higher costs than expected for the BlueESC. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

That’s it for today! Stayed tuned for some exciting updates next month!