PureWave Relying on Gore Protective Vents for Advanced LTE Small-Cell Base Station

Base stations for delivering wireless data services are placed in many different locations in densely populated areas. The environmental hazards of placing one of these devices where there are excessive pollutants as well as natural climate variations such as rain, cold and heat can affect the functionality and lifespan. In order to ensure that their new line of PureWave Constellation line of advanced LTE (News - Alert) small-cell base stations function as they are designed for the longest possible time, the company has chosen the Gore Protective Vents to equalize the internal pressure of the unit.

Gore Protective Vents have a constant airflow which equalizes the internal pressure of the housing unit. This prevents premature failure of the seals by eliminating vacuum. Not only is the pressure regulated, the vent also provides a barrier against moisture, dust and other pollutants that can damage sensitive components on the base station. The vent has a rating of Ingress Protection (IP) of 67.

The IP number is used to show the environmental protection ability of an enclosure unit around electronic equipment. The rating is made after specific test are made and a two number evaluation is given. The first number is the protection against solid substances and the second number is against liquids. The number six signifies total protection against dust and the number seven is protection against the effect of immersion between 15 cm (5.9 inches) and 1m (3.28 feet). Receiving an IP rating of 67 ensures that the product that is housed will be relatively safe against most environmental hazards.

The vents from Gore are available in different shapes and sizes so they can be applied in many applications. They can be placed with an adhesive, screwed in, snap-fit or press-fit construction. This allows it to be integrated in the smallest of housing units.

The aluminum housing unit of the PureWave Constellation LTE small-cell base station is very durable and it also has an IP rating of 67. The rugged design can be installed virtually in any urban environment without additional protection. It is designed to resist extreme weather conditions anywhere in the world. The unit is made with cast aluminum housing with a closed cell gasket for a solid seal.

The reason PureWave needs the Gore vent is because heat builds up during the operation of the device. This causes differentials in internal pressure of as much as ± 3 psi and the vent equalizes the pressure thereby eliminating any potential damage. The type of vent chosen by PureWave is the adhesive vent because it was the best choice for the flexible aluminum housing of the Constellation base station.

“We expect our products to perform reliably for at least ten years, regardless of where they are installed. Therefore, we have integrated GORE® Protective Vents in many of our product lines, and we have not had any leakage issues in thousands of installations worldwide. This level of consistently reliable performance is why we continue to select Gore when developing all of our products,” said Brett Catterall, Director of Operations at PureWave.