CPI Thermals Pick up Slack in Aerospace Aftermarket

 

While most companies are riding out the pandemic with some degree of production and sales, one area that has seen disruption across the board is related to supply chain dynamics.  Remember how hard it was to get toilet paper for a while?  Well toilet paper availability has largely returned (thank goodness..) but inventory and demand remain out of sync for all kinds of manufactured goods needed for all kinds of production.  Add to this, the uncertainty of the trade and tariff situation with respect to China where so many cheap offshore parts and subassemblies are made, and we understand why lead times, and radical price increases have become all too common.

Nowhere has this been more true than in aviation, where manufacturers are finding that their offshore components either aren’t available or are now going to cost 2 or 3 times what they used to. CPI has seen the trend affect our thermal switch line, albeit in a good way as many avionics manufacturers have come to us for thermal switch replacements for various avionic subsystems. Our thermal switches were always of higher performance than what they were using but the irony is that now in many cases they are price competitive in quantity, with formerly less expensive solutions. One advantage of our Made in the USA manufacturing is that our costs and distribution models are largely unaffected by the pandemic since we’re sourcing and building everything locally.

Who’s using CPI thermal Switches and for What?

CPI Thermal Switches have a long history of use in both military and commercial avionics system that continues today. We have three lines of Thermal Switches covering temperatures from 0F to 1750F, a range very few manufactures worldwide can even produce.  All boast highly accurate, factory programmable set-points, and the robust endurance parameters the world has come to know from CPI.

Whatever Application you’re flying with, CPI thermal switches were actually designed for aviation applications.  Here’s just a few ways they’ve been used

Fire Detection – In every application from galley fire detection, to engine and avionics bay temperature detection, in planes from Ebaraer’s Novaer Training, to large military aircraft where their exact usages are classified, fire detection is a mainstay of CPI thermal use because of their high temperature capability.

Over Temperature Detection – The list of over-temperature detection applications in aviation is long. It includes such applications as engine over-temp, generator over-temp, APU backup temperature monitoring, environmental control system fail-safe, gear box OT on rotary wing aircraft, hydraulic fluid OT, and much more. Because our switches operate standalone and do not require an external computer to initiate close/open, they are preferred in applications that are critical for fail safe operation.

Freeze Detection – Most think of thermals checking when things get too hot, but our switches are one of the few in the world that can check when things get too cold!  In a weapons system, this can be used to ensure that internal heaters are activated that prevent the electronics from failing due to freezing conditions.

Custom Solutions – CPI has a long history of making custom thermal switch solutions for clients, that meet their requirements without compromise. For more information on whether we can make the right solution for you, call our engineering team directly

CPI Thermals are Right for Aviation, Pandemic or Not.

For more information on CPI Thermal Switch lines and their unique capabilities, please visit our website or contact an application engineer today.

Originally posted: https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/cpi-thermals-pick-up-slack-in-aerospace-aftermarket/