Can Paint Protect Sensors From RFI?

♦ Can paint protect sensors from RFI – if you use the right paint and the right seals, perhaps it can.

Use of plastic housings leaves security sensors vulnerable to RFI disturbances propagated through space. Equipment flaws are usually picked up during testing allowing equipment designers to employ shielding, but field vulnerabilities are not always detected.

No sensor design team can anticipate every conceivable circumstance in which their equipment will be installed, nor can they know what sort of interference it will face. As a rule, it’s much easier for technicians to address EMI across direct coupling paths than it is to stave RFI off through air space.

But there is a way to solve some interference problems that’s inexpensive and relatively easy. If you can establish RFI is arriving through space and you’re unable to locate or nullify its source, shielding plastic housings may be the answer.

Try copper or nickel-based spray paint on the housing and employ metal gaskets on housing seams and cable entry points. Be sure you inform the customer what you’re planning and walk test carefully to be sure the sensor retains its catch performance.

Obviously, painting sensors can impact on warranty, so make sure you chat with suppliers as well.

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