Expanded line of sulfur-resistant fixed resistor products for industrial, IT and telecom developers

Bourns has significantly expanded its portfolio of sulfur-resistant fixed resistor products. Added are eight new thick film precision chip resistors designed to operate in harsh environments where there are high levels of sulfur contamination. Their new resistor products give developers of industrial, IT and telecom applications increased product lifespan compared to standard film resistors when exposed to a sulfurous gas environment. In tests conducted by the company comparing its standard film resistors to its new sulfur-resistant film resistors, their sulfur-resistant resistors provided 20 times greater operating lifespan over its standard device. This enhanced lifespan makes them particularly well suited for mission-critical applications such as industrial and automation equipment, power supplies and communication base stations. High-sulfur environments include those where oils, lubricants or fossil fuels are present, polluted industrial areas that have high-sulfur contamination or generally where there are harsh, corrosive conditions. Normal factors such as temperature, humidity and air flow, coupled with the presence of sulfur-based gasses, contribute to the corrosion process and the formation of harmful silver sulfide, which ultimately can cause an open circuit condition and failure of the resistor. Adding to the problem is the design and materials used in typical thick film resistors, particularly the silver in the silver palladium internal terminal, which cause standard resistor components to be more susceptible to the ingress of sulfur-based gasses. "In recent years, the long-term reliability of film chip resistors that must operate in high sulfur environments has become an important concern in multiple industrial and telecommunication market segments," said Brian Ahearne, Product Line Manager at Bourns, Inc. "We expanded our line of sulfur-resistant resistive products in response to overwhelming demand from our customers to help them eliminate corrosion-related hard failures in their applications. Bourns has had positive feedback that these devices contribute to improving overall system reliability and performance that can aid in reducing costly unscheduled downtime."