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One component, a grub screw with a 0.5mm hole that focuses a jet onto a paddle wheel, could only be suitably tested after assembly and 80% were rejected due to burrs that were impeding the flow characteristics. This was a major headache, until they tried thermal deburring.

Thermal deburring is not widely known in the UK but has been established for over 40 years. It has a background in the deburring of mass parts from the die-cast and hydraulic industries, but is now being used in newer diverse applications. Its unique feature is that it uses a gas as the energy source, this can guarantee that every burr and loose part is surrounded and removed - no matter how small or awkward to get to. By using this method of automatic deburring, the jet's fine hole was cleared of burrs and its failure rate reduced dramatically from 8 in 10 to 1 in 10.

'We are so pleased we made the effort to search for independent help over deburring,' said Tom Stafford, design engineer at LitreMeter. 'Deburring Centre responded quickly, did free trials, and worked with us to solve the problem. We are now looking at other applications thermal deburring can benefit.'