Helium in Vehicle Safety Testing

Whether you are an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), a tier-1 or 2 supplier, or an automotive testing services provider, helium for vehicle safety testing is crucial. It helps uphold the practicality and quality of automotive designs, systems, and parts.

Ideal for leak testing of fuel, exhausts, Evaporative Emission Control Systems (EVAP), and air conditioning systems, it can also be used for checking air bag inflation, tire pressure, and engine compression. Indeed the uses of this non-toxic, non-flammable gas are aplenty.

Helium also finds applications in furnace atmospheres to produce stronger and more durable parts.

Importance of Helium’s Purity

For automotive players, the purity of helium is of utmost importance as contaminants in the helium gas — such as oxygen, moisture, or other gases — can interfere with the accuracy of the testing results. The outcomes would, therefore, be undesirable, costly, and needlessly time-consuming for its users.

This is where it is ever-so-crucial to partner with a gas provider like nexAir for highly pure, contaminant-free helium.

The most common types of helium based on purity and used in automotive testing are:

High-Purity Helium

It is 99.999% pure and is commonly used in leak testing and automotive airbag deployment testing due to its high accuracy and ability to detect even the smallest leaks.

Instrument-Grade Helium

At 99.995% purity, it is commonly used in automotive combustion engine testing and the like.

Technical-Grade Helium

This type of helium is 99.5% pure and is commonly used in automotive pressure testing such as tire inflation and suspension testing.

nexAir assists automotive players in choosing the type of helium that best suits their needs and requirements.

Going Beyond Helium

nexAir is a one-stop-shop for all gases that the automotive industry may require such as:

• Oxygen for plasma cutting, foundries, and performance testing of fuel cells and engines
• Argon for welding and fabrication
• Acetylene for low-pressure carburizing
• Hydrogen for high-pressure gas quenching, as a component of the heat-treating atmosphere, or as an alternate fuel
• Nitrogen for tire curing, autoclave inerting, and heat treating

Beyond being a welding equipment supplier, nexAir is adept at transferring its industry knowledge and KnowHow from decades of experience to its clients.

nexAir’s staff of trained professionals works closely with clients, sharing industry knowledge and enabling them to reduce wastage, improve margins, and be proactively efficient.

We have a number of satisfied clients whom we’ve helped work around the hurdles of a helium shortage, increase productivity without increasing gas consumption, and compliance with regulatory mandates pertaining to gases.

nexAir: Welding Supplies, Equipment, and Gases

Helium is also used in the automotive industry as a suitable gas for welding high-conductivity materials such as aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and magnesium alloys. To this end, nexAir brings more than gases to the table.

With the mission of helping companies Forge Forward, nexAir houses a wide array of welding equipment that is available for sale and lease. Our arsenal of welding tools includes MIG (metal inert gas), TIG (tungsten inert gas), sticks, welder generators, plasma cutters, consumables, and safety equipment.

What’s more? Our expert repair technicians are just a call away whenever you need them.

Reach out to nexAir for comprehensive assistance, gas supplies, and welding equipment backed by expert advice and support. Allow us to help you Forge Forward with your automotive manufacturing processes.