Wall Colmonoy installed a Centorr Workhorse® vacuum-brazing furnace at its Los Lunas, N.M., facility. The new furnace, customized for Wall Colmonoy’s specific needs, is able to process material under high vacuum and partial pressures with excellent process control. It has an effective hot-zone size of 12 inches x 12 inches x 12 inches and a maximum temperature of 2400°F. The Yokogawa process-control system with HMI interface will help technicians maintain effective operation and control of the furnace as well as provide data with which to make operational decisions.            

Engineers and technicians will use the furnace to continually test braze quality. According to Wall Colmonoy, the furnace is expected to increase throughput by a factor of two. Used for product development, application development and research testing, this increased capacity will allow the company to keep pace with requirements. The model includes a Varian VHS – 6 diffusion pumping system, Leybold rotary-vane roughing pump and a water-cooled diffusion pump baffle allowing for processing of materials at very low vacuum levels. The unit also includes digital water-flow switches and dedicated load thermocouples.