Last updated: October 28, 2026
“Should we be jetting this?” is one of the most common questions we get on the shop floor. Non-contact jet valves can place thousands of micro-deposits per second without ever touching the substrate — but jetting isn’t automatically the right answer for every application. Here’s a practical way to decide.
What jetting actually changes
With contact dispensing, the tip moves down to the substrate, lays the deposit, and lifts — a cycle that takes time and depends on consistent standoff. A jet valve fires fluid from a small distance away, so it never has to touch down. That single difference unlocks much higher throughput, dispensing over uneven or delicate surfaces, and reaching into recesses a needle can’t.
Signs you’ve outgrown contact dispensing
- Throughput is the bottleneck. If cycle time per deposit is limiting your line rate, jetting’s speed is the clearest win.
- You’re dispensing onto uneven or fragile surfaces. Non-contact means no crashed tips and no marred parts.
- Deposits are getting smaller. Miniaturized electronics and medical parts often need micro-deposits that are hard to place consistently by contact.
- You need to reach into tight features. Jetting can place fluid at the bottom of a cavity without fitting a needle inside it.
When contact dispensing is still the right call
Jetting isn’t free. Jet valves cost more up front and need tuning for each fluid, so they earn their keep on volume and difficulty — not on a low-rate, simple bead. If you’re placing a handful of forgiving deposits per part, a benchtop dispenser or a dispense valve is often the more sensible tool. For simple beads, the right dispense tip and syringe barrel matter as much as the dispenser. Very high-viscosity or heavily filled materials can also be better suited to a positive-displacement pump than a jet.
The middle path: jetting on a robot
The biggest gains usually come from putting a jet valve on an automated dispensing system. The robot handles placement and the jet handles speed, giving you a programmable, repeatable, fully documented process — exactly what high-reliability electronics and medical customers expect.
Run the numbers on your part
The decision really comes down to your deposit size, cycle time, and fluid. We’ll look at your application and tell you honestly whether jetting pays off or whether a simpler setup gets you there — and we’ll test your fluid before you commit. Talk to a specialist to walk through it.
J.A. CRAWFORD CO. is an authorized Nordson EFD Solutions Experts partner serving Southern California, Arizona, and Baja Mexico. We match the right dispensing technology to your process — not the most expensive one — and have since 1967.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I switch from contact dispensing to jetting?
When throughput is the bottleneck, when you dispense onto uneven or fragile surfaces, when deposits are getting very small, or when you need to reach into tight cavities a needle can’t fit.
Is jetting always better than a dispense tip?
No. Jet valves cost more up front and need tuning for each fluid. For a few forgiving deposits per part, a benchtop dispenser or dispense valve is often the better tool.
How small a deposit can a dispense tip make?
About twice the tip’s inner diameter. Ceramic MicroDot tips reach deposits as small as 100 µm. See the dispensing tip gauge chart.