THORLABS PTR306, User Manual

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PTR306 / PTR306B Recoaters with Linear Proof Testers Chapter 6: Controlling the PTR306/PTR306B
Page 14 TTN090913-D02
Priming the Injection System
Both the PTR306 and PTR306B can be injected manually if necessary. The PTR306B comes standard with the
remote manual injector, whereas the PTR306 comes standard with the automatic injector.
For priming the injection system go to the appropriate section below.
WARNING
Prior to handling the UV acrylate material, be sure to read the Material Safety Data Sheet
provided in Section 10.2.
Manual Injection System
The top quartz plate contains an injection port, which must be filled with UV acrylate material prior to placing the
fiber in the recoat mold. The injection port can be filled by using a syringe (supplied) to dispense the UV material.
Care must be taken to prevent the formation of bubbles in the UV material when loading both the syringe and the
injection port.
To load the injection port, use the following procedures (see Figure 8):
1. Fill the syringe by inserting the tip into the bottle of UV material. Make sure that the tip is immersed in the
material and slowly draw out the plunger.
2. If an air bubble gets trapped within the syringe, turn the syringe upside down for several minutes to allow
the bubble to rise to the tip. Gently push in on the plunger to force out the air bubble.
3. Remove the threaded plunger form the injection port.
4. Slowly dispense material from the syringe into the injection port. Make sure not to trap or inject air bubbles
in the port. A good procedure is to dispense a small drop of recoat material at the tip of the syringe and
then touch the drop to the inside back surface of the injection port. Give the material time to flow down into
the inject port – repeating with additional drops until material almost reaches the top. Some room should
be left at the top in order to insert the O-ring plunger. If too much material is dispensed into the port such
that it protrudes above the top, insert a small scrap piece of fiber into the port to remove some material.
5. Raise the recoat top slightly and press the O-ring of the injection plunger into the port.
6. Rotate the plunger clockwise until the threads just catch.
7. Raise the recoat top and wipe away any excess UV material that may have injected out through the top.
Once the recoat port has been filled, it should contain enough UV material for several recoats.
8. Clean the mold plates of all excess recoat material.
Figure 8 Loading the Manual Injection Port
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