Tired of replacing IR lamps on your SIG Blomax line?
If you feel like you’re swapping out IR lamps every other week, you’re probably looking at your voltage settings. But here’s the thing: it’s usually not an electrical issue. It’s a physical one. Standard lamps just aren’t built for the chaos of a high-speed PET blowing environment. Between the constant vibration and the brutal heat cycles, they just snap.
The secret is in the build
We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel or change the wattage. Instead, we looked at the quartz envelope and the filament support. We use heavier-walled quartz and a better way of tensioning the filament. It sounds simple, but it means the tube can actually handle the mechanical stress of the machine without giving up. The best part? They’re drop-in replacements. You don’t have to mess with your PLC settings or rewire your cabinets. They fit the SIG OEM specs perfectly, so they just slide right into your existing holders.
Dealing with the heat
To get those PET preforms soft enough in a fraction of a second, you need serious heat density. But that heat is a double-edged sword. When you cram that much power into a thin tube, you get hot spots. And hot spots lead to dead lamps. Our reinforced tubes spread that thermal load out more evenly. But a quick heads-up: these are still high-heat lamps. If your cooling fans are choked with dust or your airflow is blocked, no lamp in the world is going to survive. Keep your vents clear.
A few tips for the floor
Stop thinking of these as “disposables” that you just toss every few weeks. Switching to reinforced tubes means way less downtime and fewer headaches from breaking glass inside the oven. One last thing—check your connectors for oxidation before you plug them in. A loose or dirty connection creates a little arc, and that’ll kill even the toughest lamp we make.