How to Set Up Blue LV Barrier Pistons for Cyanoacrylates and Watery Fluids

Find Out How Blue Pistons Work and Learn About Proper Setup

Dispensing cyanoacrylates is tricky because the material cures almost immediately upon being exposed to ambient air. Dispensing very thin, watery fluids also presents a challenge since these materials are susceptible to even the smallest pressure variations, which can affect your deposit size.

Nordson EFD’s blue LV Barrier pistons are the most unique type of piston in our Optimum^® line of syringe barrel pistons because they are designed for dispensing thin cyanoacrylates and watery assembly fluids.

In this blog post we will cover how our blue pistons work and proper setup for achieving the best possible dispensing results.

Unique Design of LV Barrier Piston

Our blue LV Barrier pistons are the tightest fitting pistons. They are designed to stay in place rather than moving down as you’re dispensing fluid inside the syringe barrel. This is an important feature because the piston never comes in contact with the fluid. Instead, it sits above the fluid level. With conventional pistons, if the fluid contacts the piston when working with cyanoacrylates, the fluid will bond the piston to the walls of the syringe barrel.

Unlike other Optimum pistons, the blue pistons have a small hole that allows air to pass through and pressurizes the fluid. This feature is essential for thin fluids, which require consistent air pressure to produce accurate deposits, every time. The hole also allows vacuum suction to prevent dripping between dispense cycles.

Learn more by watching this brief video.

Proper Setup of Blue LV Barrier Piston

Since watery fluids and thin cyanoacrylates are harder to work with than other fluids, please follow these recommendations to give you the best results:

1. Always make sure the blue piston sits above the fluid to help maintain the gap and prevent bonding of the piston to the barrel wall.


2. Use dry filtered air when working with CAs as moisture in the airline can cause the fluid to cure inside the barrel reservoir.
   
   Note: If you’re unsure if the air is dry filtered, you can install a five-micron filter regulator with coalescing filter to remove moisture from compressed air. For more tips on cyanoacrylate dispensing, watch this video.

 

3. Adaptor assemblies with a filter trap are a great addition to your dispensing process. If there’s too much vacuum on your dispenser or the operator puts the syringe barrel down on its side, the filter trap will prevent the fluid from going back into the dispenser.

For more information about cyanoacrylates and best practices for accurate, repeatable dispensing results, please read our Cyanoacrylate Dispensing Guide.

Need more info about general dispensing best practices? Don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Tom Muccino

Tom Muccino is a Regional Sales Manager at Nordson EFD. He manages the sales team located in the Midwest to the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada. Tom has more than 30 years of fluid dispensing expertise. He joined Nordson EFD in 1987.