Testing To A Trillion And Beyond: Developing Our 17,000+ Hour Pump

The Lee Company’s LT Series Disc Pumps, operating at ultrasonic frequencies around 21 kHz, are engineered for exceptional durability, recently surpassing 1 trillion cycles and 17,000 operational hours in testing. This longevity is achieved through high-precision design and a rigorous, data-driven development process.

Central to this process is the company’s custom-built Automated Life Test System, capable of testing up to 500 pumps simultaneously. This system continuously monitors key electrical and pneumatic parameters, recording data every second. The resulting dataset enables in-depth analysis, early detection of potential issues, and rapid identification of top-performing design variants. The high-throughput testing approach allows multiple designs to be evaluated in parallel, accelerating research and development.

Service life is measured using the t1 performance metric—the point at which 10% of pumps show a 10% drop in starting stall pressure. At 0.6 W drive power (60% of the rated 1 W), t1 is reached at 17,000 hours, after which performance declines gradually, but pumps typically remain operational for thousands more hours.

Reliability validation continues beyond product launch, with lifetime testing maintained throughout the product lifecycle. Additional experiments assess performance under varying temperatures, duty cycles, and power levels, helping quantify trade-offs between lifetime and output. This allows customers to make informed integration decisions based on application-specific needs.

Through continual design iteration, extensive testing, and real-world performance mapping, The Lee Company delivers high-performance micropumps with proven longevity, ensuring reliable operation across diverse applications.