PAINT BORER 518 MC 1

Read this Operating Manual carefully before putting the instrument into operation.

Operating Instructions

Thickness Gauge
PAINT BORER
518 MC

Country of origin: Germany

Status: VI/2012

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Index Page

1 Fundamentals 3
1.1 Receiving Inspection 3
1.2 Pupose and Designated Use 3
1.3 Storage and Operation 3
1.4 Safety Instructions 3
1.5 Copyright 3
1.6 Address of the Supplier 3

2 Instrument Data 4
2.1 Name / Type 4
2.2 Scope of Supply 4
2.2.1 Basic instrument 4
2.2.2 Additional accessories (optional) 4
2.2.3 Spare part 4
2.3 Technical Data 5
2.3.1 Basic instrument 5
2.3.2 Drills 5
2.3.3 Specimen Platform 5

3 Operation – Function - Handling 6

3.1 Power Supply 7
3.2 Illumination 7
3.3 Sliding Mechanism 7
3.4 Measuring microscope 8
3.5 Drills (Wedge cut method) 8
3.6 Specimen Platform 9

4 Layer Thickness Measurement 10

4.1 Specimen preparation 10
4.2 Drilling Procedure 10
4.3 Establishing the Coating Thickness 11

5 Special Measuring Problems 13

5.1 Peeling 13
5.2 Curved Surfaces 14
5.3 Specimen Tilting 14
5.4 Literature 15

6 Maintenance and Care 16

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1 Fundamentals

1.1 Receiving Inspection

Check delivery for completeness. Transport damages should be documented

and reported directly to the supplier or the relevant insurer.

1.2 Purpose and Designated Use

The PAINT BORER 518 MC is inteded to measure the thickness of organic

coatings on any substrates using the wedge cut method.
ERICHSEN GmbH & Co. KG will not be liable for damages resulting from
improper use.

1.3 Storage and Operation

For the admissible climatic conditions please refer to chapter 2.3.1.

1.4 Safety Instructions

The general statutory as well as otherwise binding regulations for accident

prevention and environmental protection have to be observed.

1.5 Copyright

The copyright of this instruction manual remains with ERICHSEN GmbH & Co.
KG, D-58675 Hemer. The instruction manual is intended solely for the user and
his personnel.
The instruction manual contains instructions and guidelines which may not be
duplicated, distributed or otherwise passed on to others either in full or in part.
Infringement of these restrictions can lead to legal action.

1.6 Address of the Supplier

ERICHSEN GmbH & Co. KG

Am Iserbach 14
D-58675 HEMER / Germany
Tel.: (02372) 9683-0
Fax: (02372) 6430
eMail: info@erichsen.de
Internet: http://www.erichsen.de

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2 Instrument Data

2.1 Name / Type

Thickness Gauge PAINT BORER, Model 518 MC ,

Ord.-No. 0283.03.31, with microscope to be turned and moved sideways

2.2 Scope of Supply

2.2.1 Basic instrument
1 Drill No. 5 for layer thicknesses up to 300 microns
1 Felt test pen black
1 Felt test pen silver
1 Screw driver
1 Rechargeable battery (9 V)
1 Power pack (100 – 240) VAC / (47 – 63) Hz
1 Operating Instructions
1 Plastic case

2.2.2 Additional accessories (optional)

Drill No. 2 for layer thicknesses up to 200 microns Ord.-No. 910927241
Drill No. 4 for layer thicknesses up to 500 microns Ord.-No. 910927741
Drill No. 3 for layer thicknesses up to 1000 microns Ord.-No. 910927841
Drill No. 1 for layer thicknesses up to 1000 microns Ord.-No. 910927141
Specimen platform Ord.-No. 0326.01.32

2.2.3 Spare part

Drill No. 5 for layer thicknesses up to 300 microns Ord.-No. 910928241

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2.3 Technical Data

2.3.1 Basic instrument

Dimensions (H x W x D) 110 mm x 55 mm x 145 mm

Net weight approx. 800 g
Number of revolutions of the drill approx. 180 rpm
Minimum dimensions of specimen 150 mm x 25 mm

Mains connection (alternative)

- 9-V-Accu 6F22
- 9-V-Battery 6LR61
- Power pack (100 – 240) VAC, (47 – 63) Hz
18 VDC / 0,8 A
Temperature range
- Storage conditions -10 °C bis +70 °C
- Operating conditions -10 °C bis +40 °C

2.3.2 Drills

Table 1 Performance of the drills (wedge cut method)

1 2 1 1 1
Drill No. 2 ) No. 5 ) No. 4 ) No. 3 ) No. 1 )
Measuring range up to 200 µm up to 300 µm up to 500 µm up to1000 µm up to 2000 µm
Scale factor (f) 2 µm/sc.div. 3 µm/sc.div. 5 µm/sc.div. 10 µm/sc.div. 20 µm/sc.div.
Cutting angle () 5,7° 8,5° 14,0° 26.7° 45°
tan  0.10 0.15 0.25 0.50 1.0
Geometry two-edges single-edges
Head-Ø 5 mm
Material carbide

1
) as accessory
2
) included in the scope of supply

2.3.3 Specimen Platform

Dimensions (H x W x D) 60 mm x 130 mm x 55 mm
Net weight approx. 145 g
Minimum dimensions of specimen 10 mm x 6 mm
Maximum width of specimen 73 mm
Maximum thickness of specimen 25 mm

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3 Operation – Function - Handling

Drilling Head
Microscope

Knurled ring

Slide

Knurled screw

Battery compartment

AC adapter jack

Button (Illumination)
d

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3.1 Power Supply

The PAINT BORER 518 MC is basically intended for use independently of the
mains supply, i.e. it is a portable instrument. The built in power source is in the
form of a 9 V NC rechargeable battery (IEC No. 6F22). Alternatively, a 9 V
compact battery (alkaline manganese Type IEC No. 6LR61) can be employed.

The 9 V rechargeable battery is delivered packed separately and has to be

inserted into the black plastic compartment on the right-hand side before the
instrument is put into operation. Care is necessary to prevent breaking off the
battery cable.

The jack for connecting the AC adapter is located on the rear of the
PAINT BORER. The time required for charging is 14 hours. The
instrument can be operated whilst it is charged.

If the PAINT BORER is operated with batteries, the charging unit

must by no means be connected to it.
Attention

If the PAINT BORER is generally connected to the mains, it is

advisable to remove the rechargeable battery as otherwise it will be
overcharged. If the instrument is mainly connected to the mains
supply, but is occasionally also used for mobile applications, the
rechargeable battery may be left in the instrument, but the recharger
should not always be connected.

3.2 Illumination
A white light emitting diode (LED) for diffuse light is used for sample illumination.
The button for illumination is located on the rear of the PAINT BORER.

To switch on the LED press the button briefly. Press the button longer to switch
off the LED, or wait for 60 s (shut down automatically). When switched on, the
LED brightness can be varied in three steps. After switching on the middle step is
always set.

3.3 Sliding Mechanism

An important part of the PAINT BORER is the slide which holds th drilling head
and measuring microscope. The slide can be moved from side to side in such a
way that in one end position the drill is above the test point and in the other end
position the microscope is above the test point.

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In the left-end position for drilling, the slide rests against a micro-switch. Slight
pressure on the spring drill head suffices to move the drill downwards and simul-
taneously to switch on the motor.

The right-end position fixes the measuring point of the microscope. A horizontal
screw with knurled plastic head is fitted on the right at the top of the frame for
sensitive adjustment of this end position. Since the fine adjustment only acts in
one direction (towards the left), the knurled screw should be screwed inward
(towards the right) before each measurement is made.
The microscope can be moved across the slider and additionally also be rotated.
A knurled ring for turning is mounted on the tube.

Knurled screw

3.4 Measuring microscope

With the 100 division scale of the measuring microscope magnifying 50 times a
measuring range covered by 2 mm. One mark of the scale corresponds to
20 µm, and the measurement resolution is 1% of measuring range.

For the adjustment of the measuring microscope hold the knurled ring.
With the light switched on, first turn the eye piece holder to bring it into focus with
the measuring scale and then raise or lower the complete microscope tube to
bring it into focus with the specimen surface.

3.5 Drills (Wedge cut method)

Part of the basic equipment of the PAINT BORER is a drill for a measuring range
of 300 microns (drill no. 5). Further drills for measuring ranges of 200 microns
(drill no. 2), 500 microns (drill no. 4), 1000 µm (drill no. 3) and 2000 µm (drill no.
1) can be supplied as accessories.

The drill no. 1 employs a single cutting edge, but the drills no. 2, 3, 4 and no. 5
are fitted with two cutting edges so as to achieve a good conical shape in spite of
the shallow angle (5.7°, 8.5°, 14° or 26.7°).

All drills are entirely made of carbide. This means that they are extremely
resistant to abrasion and wear but also extremely brittle. The drills must therefore
not be submitted to any excessive knocking especially when working with hard
substrates.

To change the dirll slacken the clamping screw within the holding fixture using
thesupplied screw driver and remove the drill. Insert the new drill in such a way
that it locks into the coupling and then tighten the clamping screw.

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3.6 Specimen Platform

The specimen platform available as an accessory, is intended to serve as an

clamping adapter for small parts (e. g. parts cut from larger specimens) and for
(slightly) curved specimens as well as for specimens with a complicated
geometry (e. g. shaped parts).

Mounting plate

Fastening screw

Slots are milled into the mounting plate of the specimen platform. These in
conjunction with two rails with holes provide sufficient degrees of freedom for
fixing specimens various geometrical shapes. When clamping the specimen take
care that the mounting plate is not bent.

The rails with holes are intended to serve only as basic equipment: If series of
measurements are to be performed on specimens of similar shape and
dimensions, it is recommended to employ specially made clamping pieces, for
example of bent sheet metal strip, matched in an optimum manner to the
geometry of the specimen to faciliate more rapid measurement.

The mounting plate is constructed in such a way that it can be fixed underneath
the PAINT BORER and the latter can then be placed onto the round feet of the
specimen table. This will ensure that the specimens - with or without specimen
platform - are always drilled in the same manner.

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4 Layer Thickness Measurement

4.1 Specimen preparation

Initially select a flat part of the specimen surface. The area must be large enough
for the rubber supports on the sides of the PAINT BORER to be well supported.
Unless special additional measures are taken this means that the minimum
specimen dimensions are 150 x 25 mm. Use the specimen table for smaller
samples (see section 3.6).

A contrast mark should be applied at the test point covering a minimum area of
6 mm diameter. The colour of this mark should be in the strongest possible
contrast with the colour of the specimen surface so as to make it easier to
measure the cut through the coating with the microscope.
For light coloured specimens the black felt tip pen supplied can be used for the
contrast mark; for dark coatings use the silver felt tip pen for marking (only apply
a thin layer and let it harden sufficiently).
It is useful to adjust the microscope before drilling of the specimen (see section
3.4). The easiest way is to focus onto the edge of the contrast mark on the
specimen surface.

4.2 Drilling Procedure

Set up drill for desired measuring range into the drilling head and fix.

If the layer thickness is not known, initially use a drill with a large angle and
select optimum angle on this basis.

In case of multi layer systems where drills of different angles are to be employed,
start with a drill with larger angle to bring the full section into view. The upper
layer can then be drilled with another drill with smaller angles for higher accuracy
in a separate operation.

Place slide of PAINT BORER against left location measuring instrument onto
specimen so that drill tip is approx. in the centre of the contrast mark.

By slightly pressing on drilling head initiate drilling process. This should be done
sensitively, to regulate the rate of cutting to suit the layer system and it may have
to be optimised by trial.
It is essential to drill just into the substrate. The tips of the drills are designed so
that they can be allowed to cut into the substrate by up to ¼ of the measuring
range without limiting the measuring range.

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4.3 Establishing the Coating Thickness

After drilling, move slide piece of PAINT BORER to right hand end position to
bring the microscope over the hole. Switch on lamp (see 3.2) and adjust focus if
necessary.

It will now be possible to see through the microscope a number of concentric

circles in accordance with the number of layers. The distance between the circles
(see figure 1), i. e. the difference in radius, should now be measured.

Fig. 1: Drilled hole of a two-layer coating shown in cross section and observed with
microscope (s1 / s2 = Measuring distance for layers 1 / 2)

Carefully move slide carrying microscope to the left by turning the knurled screw
so that the start of the measuring scale is in line with one end of the distance to
be measured as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Measurement of a film section consisting of a single layer using microscope

Single coating (s = measuring distance)

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A fundamental rule is to take advantage of the symmetry of the cut out and make
measurements on diametrically opposed sides for evaluation (see Fig. 2).

Count number of scale divisions s and multiply by the relevant scale factor f.
The layer thickness d is given by:

d=sxf (1)

in micron units, the factor f always being 1/100 of the measuring range.

In the same way also the thickness of individual layers can be determined. For
this measure the individual “s”-values (see fig. 1, measuring distances s1 and s2)
and calculate in accordance with formula (1).

The microscope evaluation is frequently not possible, if the coating material

crumbles in the drilling zone so that the line of the cut layers is not circular but an
irregular closed shape. In a few cases, however, the inner circle corresponding to
the point where the coating touches he substrate is still just visible (dashed circle
in Fig. 3) and measurement can therefore be made as previously described
(measuring distance s1 in Fig. 3).

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5 Special Measuring Problems

5.1 Peeling

Brittle coatings and/or coatings with poor adhesion on the substrate often result
in drilled cut outs on which the border between the coating and the substrate is
not circular, i.e. has an irregular edge (see fig. 3).

Fig. 3: View through microscope onto drilled cut out with crumbled edges
(s1 / s2 = measuring distances)

The normal microscopic evaluation would in such cases lead to incorrect low
coating thickness values, since part of the measuring distance will be missing
due to peeling off. If only part of the periphery has broken away, there will still be
measuring distance available that corresponds to the true coating thickness (see
s2 in Fig. 3) so that a correct evaluation will be possible.

In a few cases, however, the inner circle corresponding to the point where the
coating touches he substrate is still just visible (dashed circle in Fig. 3) and
measurement can therefore be made as previously described (measuring
distance s1 in Fig. 3).
Several cuts should be drilled into the specimen and in each boring as many
measurements as possible should be made. The longest measuring distance
established in this way will then provide a good approximation to the true coating
thickness.
There are additional measures that can be helpful in case of coatings with poor
adhesion:
• The peeling effect is particularly drastical, when the tip of the drill just pierces
the border between the coating and the substrate. Therefore it is recommended
to cut as deeply as possible into the substrate.
• Always drill intermittently, never drill off the reel. Blow away the bore chips
after each cut. The interrupted drilling is particularly essential in case of ductile
substrate materials which tend to produce big chips (e.g. some types of
plastics).
• The mechanic characteristics of soft plastics adverse to the spot drilling, may
may be optimised by cooling (freezer/freezing compartment or cooling spray).
When using cooling spray cover the surface of the coating by an aluminium foil
to protect it against solvent attacks.

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5.2 Curved Surfaces

In principle the specimens should be plane so that the wedge cut bores can be
accurately be evaluated. In case of curved specimens the layer thickness
calculated with the help of an equation (1) is always thinner than the real coating
thickness (deviation Δ).

For a predetermined maximum deviation Δmax (in %) a minimum curvature

radius ρmin (in m) can be estimated which depends on the layer thickness d (in
microns) and the scale factor f (in microns/scale division):

ρmin = d / (5 x Δmax x f2) (2)

Equation (2) signifies: If the curvature radius is greater than the limit radius ρmin,
the curvature effect within an accuracy predetermined by ∆max can be neglected
and the layer thickness can be calculated by equation (1).

Example: For d = 100 microns and f = 3 micrns/scale division (drill no. 5) the
curvature radius must be greater than 0.44 m so that the deviation Δ is smaller
than 5 % when the layer thickness is calculated by equation (1).

5.3 Specimen Tilting

On specimens with small amounts of curvature it may easily happen that the drill
will not be operated perpendicularly to the surface. The same situation arises
with tests on small specimens of different shapes which cannot always be set up
in the correct attitude under the specimen platform.

If the drill is not perpendicular to the specimen, drilling will be oblique. The image
in the microscope will then be in the shape of ellipses offset relative to one
another in place of concentric circles. The common major axis of the ellipses will
not necessarily conicide with the sliding axis of the instrument (see fig. 4).

Fig. 4: View through microscope: specimen not drilled perpendicularly

- +
(s /s = measuring distance)

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For evaluation it is necessary to determine first the offsets of the ellipses in the
direction of the common principal axis (s- und s+ in Abb. 4). Thereby all degrees
of freedom for the measuring microscope offered by the Paint Borer, are
required.

The layer thickness d (in microns) is then calculated using the measuring
quantities s- and s+ (in scale divisions) and with the scale factor f (in
microns/scale division) of Table 1 according to

d = 0,1 x ((s- x s+) / (s- + s+)) x f (3)

In no case it is permitted to calculate the film thickness according to

- +
s = ((s + s ) / 2) x f (arithmetic average)

5.4 Literature

A detailed dealing with all measuring problems that may occur using the wedge
cut method can be found in DIN 50986 (at the moment a draft). This standard
indicates also the mathematical deduction of the equations (2) and (3). In the
standard instead of the scale factor f the wedge cut factor tan  is employed
which is linked to f by the relation "f = 20 x tan " .

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6 Maintenance and Care

• The PAINT BORER 518 MC does’t require any maintenance.

• If the instrument is very wet due to exposure, it must be allowed to dry out
immediately to prevent corrosion of the slideaways and electric contacts.

• The tips of the carbide drills should regularly be inspected for wear or
damage using a magnifying glass (magnification factor at least 10), and,if
necessary, be exchanged.

• In case of technical problems please contact the manufacturer:

ERICHSEN GmbH & Co. KG

Am Iserbach 14
D-58675 HEMER

Tel.: (02372) 9683-0

Fax: (02372) 6430
eMail: info@erichsen.de
Internet: http://www.erichsen.de

The right of technical modifications is reserved.

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EG-Konformitätserklärung

EG-Declaration of Conformity

Wir/We ERICHSEN GmbH & Co. KG, Am Iserbach 14, 58675 Hemer

erklären in alleiniger Verantwortung, dass das nachfolgend aufgeführte Produkt

declare under our sole responsibility that the product described below

Schichtdickenmessgerät PAINT BORER

Thickness Measuring Instrument PAINT BORER

Modell / Model: 518 MC

- konform ist mit den Bestimmungen folgender Richtlinien:

- complies with the provisions of the following directives:

EMV-Richtlinie (2014/30/EU) – EMC Directive

Niederspannungsrichtlinie (2014/35/EU) – Low Voltage Directive

Angewandte Normen:
Applied Standards:

DIN EN 61000-6-2 (VDE 0839-6-2):2006-03

Bevollmächtigter für die Zusammenstellung der technischen Unterlagen:

Agent for the compilation of technical documents:

Bettina Betzinger-Rabe (Technische Dokumentation)

Hemer, 13.10.2015

..........................................
ppa. Stefan Schneider
Technischer Leiter/Technical Director

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