How to Estimate Parylene Coating Costs

Often considered the ultimate conformal coating, Parylene is well suited to protect many types of products and devices. Each customer application requires its own detailed and precise process, which means estimating the potential cost of a Parylene coating project is essential.

3 Questions to Help You Estimate Cost

1. “What type of Parylene am I going to use?”

Parylenes C and N are the most common types. Their cost can be close to the $200 per pound. Specialty Parylene varients, such as Parylene HT^®, can have higher costs but also provide higher performance (better heat resistance, better UV protection, etc.). It’s essential that you work with a company that has deep experience with Parylene. They’ll be able to help you choose the right variety of Parylene for your needs.

2. “What is the size and quantity of the objects I need to have coated?”

This is important because the objects to be coated will be placed into a vacuum chamber during the process. The coating chamber has a fixed cost to do one coating run. Maximizing the number of objects  in the coating chamber on each run will lower cost. In some cases, simply optimizing the number of items you have in each run can dramatically lower the total cost per item.

3. How much masking is needed?

If there is a lot of labor involved to apply masking, it goes without saying that costs will be higher. If possible, speak with an expert prior to designing your device. Sometimes design changes can be made that will result in a device that’s significantly easier to mask and coat—resulting in cost savings for you.

As with any coating process, masking is usually the most labor-intensive part of the Parylene process. However, Parylene is different from other coatings in that it is applied in a gaseous state through a vapor-deposition process. Parylene molecules will penetrate deep within the product. As a result, great care needs to be taken during the masking process to ensure that all coating “keep out” areas are adequately sealed.

The best way to understand the cost of Parylene conformal coating for your specific application is to work with the professionals at Specialty Coating Systems. Our 50+ years of Parylene experience are leveraged on every project. Contact SCS to talk to our highly-trained engineers about estimating Parylene coating costs for your next project.