Component Testing Lab

SCI Systems, Inc., Foundain, Colorado

SCI Systems, Inc. is a manufacturer and assembler of computer components for several leading PC manufacturers. Component manufacturing includes motherboards, graphics cards, modems, Ethernet cards, etc. as well as assembly of entire computer systems for their clients.

In an effort to assure leading PC manufacturers of the quality of their work, they needed a state of the art Quality Control Testing Lab to test components manufactured at the plant.

Schendt Engineering Corp. designed two burn rooms to perform Quality Assurance testing of components under extreme temperature conditions. The room temperature control requirements specified that the room was to be maintained at 125°F plus or minus 3°F under all operating conditions.

Burn Room No. 1 was approximately 2,650 S.F. and Burn Room No. 2 was approximately 1,540 S.F.. These rooms were located within a conditioned space and were constructed of insulated panels assembled on site. This required tight room pressurization control to avoid a substantial heat gain to the adjacent space.

Schendt Engineering Corp. prepared a concept design with system schematics for the project. When selecting equipment to fit the concept design we discovered that only one of the commercial manufacturers could meet the requirements with their standard product offering. The HVAC systems selected included constant volume supply and return fans with economizer controls and a modulating SCR type electric heating coils. Cooling was provided year around with the economizer cycle to minimize operating cost. These rooms required an airflow rate of approximately 8 CFM/SF of floor area due to the high heat load and tight temperature control requirements.

HASS and Thermotron enclosures were also installed to allow cyclic testing of components. Independent relief/exhaust systems were provided to purge nitrogen from these enclosures.