Leak testing & cleanliness, one set at a time.

Q: Do you test every piece or only a sample?

Leak testing runs on 100% of sets by vacuum decay, with helium verification and cycle and soak tests on batch samples. The report in your carton states which scope applied to your batch.

Q: What does ISO 4406 18/16/13 actually guarantee?

It caps particles per millilitre in three size bands: roughly 1300-2500 particles at 4 µm and up, 320-640 at 6 µm and up, and 40-80 at 14 µm and up. It is the common target class for liquid-cooling circuits.

Q: Can you test to our leak criterion instead?

Yes. Send the criterion with the drawing; the 48-hour DFM review confirms the test scope and your limit replaces the default acceptance value in the batch report.

A coupling is a pressure vessel you open on purpose. Every DryLink set passes vacuum-decay and helium leak testing before packing — on benches with 5×10⁻¹² mbar·l/s detector-class sensitivity — with cleanliness held to ISO 4406 18/16/13 and the report shipped in the carton.

Outbound Test Sequence

The bench decides, not the brochure.

This is the sequence a UQ04 set sees before its carton is sealed — the same records that ship as the batch report.

drylink · leak-bench · uq04-0311

# outbound sequence — every set, no sampling
$ vacuum-decay leak ....... PASS <1×10⁻⁴ mbar·L/s
$ helium verification ..... PASS 1.4×10⁻⁶ atm·cc/s class
$ flow @ 1.7 GPM .......... PASS Δ 1.8% of dash-04 rating
$ cycle sample 5000× ...... PASS OCP floor cycle
$ ISO 4406 particle count . 18/16/13 release codes
$ dry-break disconnect .... ZERO visible drip @ 0 psi
# leak + flow + soak records ship in the box ▊

Test Matrix

What is tested, to what limit, on what scope.

Scope matters as much as limit — a datasheet number means little until you know whether it was measured on one golden sample or on the whole batch. The matrix below names the method, the acceptance limit and the scope side by side, and the same table is what your batch report follows.

Test	Method / Limit	Scope
Helium leak test	mass-spectrometry benches, 5×10⁻¹² mbar·l/s detector class	batch verification on leak-critical sets
Production leak acceptance	~1.4×10⁻⁶ atm·cc/s order	release criterion for sealed sets
Vacuum decay	pressure-loss method, <1×10⁻⁴ mbar·L/s	100% of sets before packing
Flow verification	rated flow at class GPM — 1.7 GPM on dash-04	sampled per batch
Mate/unmate durability	5000 cycles — OCP floor	batch validation sample
Dry-break check	disconnect at 0 psi, 0.020 – 0.070 ml budget by size	OCP limit, UQD02 through UQD08
Cleanliness code	ISO 4406 particle counting	target 18/16/13 on release
What 18/16/13 means	≥4 µm: 1300–2500 · ≥6 µm: 320–640 · ≥14 µm: 40–80 particles/mL	three-band concentration cap
Salt spray	ISO 9227 neutral, 48 h	surface treatments and coatings
Glycol soak	72 h at -40 to +120°C class endpoints	sampled sets before release
Report	leak, flow, soak and cleanliness records	ships inside every carton

Helium leak test bench with a UQD coupling set clamped in the test fixture

Report Culture

If it was not recorded, it did not pass.

Leak benches are only half the job — the other half is making results travel. Each carton carries the batch report: serial range, leak values, flow check and cleanliness code, so your incoming inspection can audit the batch without asking us a single question.

When a loop is filled with $9,000-per-minute downtime on the other side of the fitting, a test report is not paperwork — it is the reason your quality team approves the second order. Reports are archived against serial ranges, so a question raised a year later still gets the original numbers, not a summary of them.

5×10⁻¹² mbar·l/s — detector-class sensitivity behind the helium benches
18/16/13 — ISO 4406 cleanliness code held as the release target
48 h — neutral salt-spray verification on surface finishes

FAQ

Testing questions, answered with limits.

Do you test every piece or only a sample?

Leak testing runs on 100% of sets by vacuum decay, with helium verification and cycle and soak tests on batch samples. The report in your carton states exactly which scope applied to your batch.

What does ISO 4406 18/16/13 actually guarantee?

It caps particles per millilitre in three size bands — roughly 1300–2500 particles at 4 µm and up, 320–640 at 6 µm and up, and 40–80 at 14 µm and up. It is the common target class for liquid-cooling and hydraulic circuits.

Can you test to our leak criterion instead?

Yes — send the criterion with the drawing. The 48-hour DFM review confirms the test scope, and your limit replaces our default acceptance value in the batch report.

Ask for the report before you ask for the price.

Sample batch reports are available with any quotation — 48-hour response, MOQ from 50 pieces, test docs in every box.

Get a Quote Email Engineering