Brand Comp

Comparison of Three Quality Slip Rings to Mercotac Model 430

Specification	Brand
Specification	Mercotac ® 430	Slip Ring Brand #1 U.S.A.	Slip Ring Brand #2 U.S.A.	Slip Ring Brand #3 U.S.A.
No. of Contacts	4	4	4	4
Contact Resistance Ohms	.001*	.0125	.008	na
Price Ratio	1*	2.7 x	3.5 x	3.6 x
Maintenance Interval / Revs.	Zero*	500,000**	500,000	500,000**
Life Cycle in Revolutions	500,000,000+*	50,000,000	6,000,000	10,000,000
Speed RPM (maximum)	1200*	100	500	125
Voltage Range	0-250	120-300	0-150	0-600
Amps Range	0-30	0-40	0-5	0-35
Real Life Example Based on a laminating machine operating one eight hour shift per day, five days per week.
Maintenance Cost Over Lifetime^f	Zero	$4,935	$588	$994
Lifetime^f	72 mos.	47 mos.	5.6 mos.	9.5 mos.
TOTAL COST COMPARISON Maintenance & Purchase Price	1.0	41.4 x	8.1 x	11.5 x

** Industry recommended intervals, 500,000 revolutions or 6 months.

^fMaintenance labor calculated at $50 per 45 min. maintenance interval. Lifetime based on 200 RPM for Mercotac, 100 RPM for Brand 1, Brand 2 and Brand 3.

*Critical Specifications in Chart showing Mercotac superiority

· Contact Resistance: The extremely low contact resistance of Mercotac connectors allows them to transmit low voltage signals without distortion which is not possible with slip rings.

· Price: Significantly lower cost of Mercotac units makes them usable in many applications where slip rings would be economically unfeasible.

· Maintenance: Zero maintenance of Mercotac connectors reduces customer labor costs significantly, making them much more affordable than slip rings.

· Life Cycle: The long life cycle of Mercotac connectors makes them more efficient and affordable than slip rings which need replacing much more often.

· RPM: The higher RPM specification of Mercotac connectors allows them to be used in applications where slip rings will not work.

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EU Directives

Mercury Use In Europe

The EU Parliament has created two Directives that are designed to reduce the hazardous substances that may enter the waste stream in Europe. These Directives primarily target consumer products.

The two Directives are the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive (2002/96/EC) and the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) Directive (2002/95/EC) which took effect July 2006. The Directives are not retro-active and do not apply to products purchased before July 2006, nor do they apply to replacement parts for existing equipment in use before July 2006 (RoHS Aritcle 2, Par 3).

One of the substances being controlled by these Directives is mercury. Mercotac connectors contain a small amount of liquid mercury. However, because Mercotac products are used almost exclusively in industrial type machines, they are exempted in those applications from control by these Directives. See the explanation following.

Annex 1A and Annex 1B of the WEEE Directive control the scope of both Directives and list the types of products that will be restricted if they contain one of the hazardous substances. Category Number 6 of the Annex covers Electrical and Electronic Tools. However, this Catagory includes the following wording, "...(with the exception of large-scale stationary industrial tools)". Therefore, any machine that fits this definition, “large-scale stationary industrial”, is exempted from the restrictions of these two Directives.

In addition, “medical devices” and “monitoring and control instruments” are exempted categories under the RoHS (Article 2, Par 1) (WEEE Annex 1A/1B Par 8 and 9).

Use the link below to print a copy of the WEEE Directive and Annex 1B showing Catagory 6, or to view other catagories in Annex 1B under which your application might fall.

The Annex 1B starts on page 11 of this WEEE Directive.

The RoHS Directive
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Literature on our Mercotac Connectors

The following Literature pages are in PDF format.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print them.

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Mercotac Connectors Product Catalog (705KB)

Smaller Models Service Instructions (150KB) (Models 105, 110, 205, 305)

Larger Models Service Instructions (170KB) (Models 230, 235, 330, 331, 335, 430, 435, 630, 830, 1250)

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Recycling

Recycling of Mercotac Connectors

Mercotac Inc. is dedicated to promoting a healthy global environment. Mercotac connectors contain a small amount of liquid mercury that, because of environmental concerns, should not be disposed of in the trash or landfills, but by means of proper recycling. Mercotac Inc. encourages all end users to either dispose of Meroctac connectors through a qualified recycler or return them to Mercotac Inc. for recycling. Within the United States of America, Mercotac Inc. offers a no-charge recycling service. The used connectors that are returned to Mercotac Inc. are sent to a licensed mercury recycling facility where the liquid mercury is retrieved for future use through an environmentally safe distillation process.

You may ship used connectors to our Carlsbad, California, USA facility by UPS Ground shipping. Mercotac Inc. provides free shipping from within the 48 contiguous United States for returning used Mercotac connectors for recycling. Please contact Mercotac Inc. for shipping instructions. The Mercotac connectors should be sealed in a plastic bag and then packaged within a sturdy box. A completed Recycling Form must be included within the box. Do not send products for recycling through the U.S. Mail.

In countries outside of the U.S.A., please contact your respective Mercotac Inc. distributor for recycling information.

If you have any questions about recycling, please feel free to contact our office, or if outside of the U.S.A., please contact your Authorized Mercotac Distributor
.

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Technical Definition of the Mercotac Advantage

Actual Oscilloscope Test

The top line is the input signal as it comes from the power source.

The middle line is the same signal after passing through a typical silver-graphite brush slip ring, showing substantial electrical noise being introduced by the slip ring

The bottom line is the same signal after passing through a Mercotac Model 430 connector, showing near zero electrical noise.


*Advantage One:* Extremely low electrical noise	Advantage Four: One connector for signal and power
*Advantage Two:* Less than 1 milliohm of resistance	Advantage Five: Much longer life
*Advantage Three:* No wear, zero maintenance	Advantage Six: Lower cost

More Technical Details

There are many ways you will profit by using Mercotac connectors:

Slip rings introduce electrical noise into the signal being transmitted.
Mercotac connectors transmit with nearly zero electrical noise, thus the same connector can be used for power and signal transmission.
Typical resistance through a slip ring is 10 - 20 milliohms.
The resistance through a Mercotac connector is less than one milliohm due to the unique liquid metal wetted contacts.
Slip rings require maintenance and lose signal quality over time due to wear and debris.
Mercotac connectors are maintenance free, do not degrade the signal over time and last much longer than slip rings.
Slip rings typically last several million revolutions.
Mercotac connectors typically last hundreds of millions of revolutions. Under test conditions with all specs. within published range, Mercotacs can last over a billion revolutions.
Though superior in performance and durability, Mercotac connectors cost less than slip rings of comparable capacity.

The above superior performance is possible because of the unique design feature of Mercotac connectors: the electrical conduction path is a liquid metal that is molecularly bonded to the contacts. This creates a connection that is constant and unchanged for the life of the connector.