Getting Your Krones Contiform Heating Just Right
If you’re running a Krones Contiform line, you know the struggle. It’s all a balancing act between hitting your power targets and making sure your lamps don’t burn out every five minutes. When those original lamps finally go, you can’t just throw any old tube in there. You need a replacement that matches the original wattage and spectral output. Why? Because if the heat is uneven, your preforms are going to suffer. The Heat Factor We build these lamps for high-voltage, shortwave infrared output specifically for SMF blower ovens. It’s about getting that PET preform to its glass transition temperature fast. Here’s the thing: if you go too low on the wattage, you’ll end up with cold spots and bottles that burst. But if you push it too hard? You risk scorching the plastic. It’s a tight window. The Build We use heavy-wall quartz glass because these things take a beating from rapid thermal cycling. Most of our units use R7s or Sk15 connectors. These aren’t just about fitting into the slot. They’re designed to keep a rock-solid electrical contact. In a high-current environment, a loose connection is a nightmare—it leads to terminal melt-downs. For some specific setups, we add a specialized coating to the quartz. This tweaks the infrared wavelength so the heat actually sinks into the PET instead of just bouncing off and warming up your oven walls. Swapping Them Out The good news is that these are direct replacements. You just swap them in. No messing with the wiring or tweaking the reflectors. Simple. But a word of advice: if you run these lamps at max power, your cooling system has to work harder. If your ventilation is clogged or your blowers are on their last legs, the lamps will run too hot and die way sooner than they should. While you’re in there changing the lamps, do yourself a favor and wipe down your reflectors. It keeps the heat where it belongs and saves you a headache later.