Stop Forcing Stock Lamps Into Tight Spaces
Ever tried to jam a standard infrared lamp into a bending furnace that just wasn’t built for it? It’s a headache. When your footprint is tight, you can’t just “make it work.” You either risk breaking the lamp or you end up with a setup that doesn’t actually heat the glass. We handle this by building the quartz heating elements to your exact specs—length, shape, and all.
Dealing with the “Cold Spot” Problem
In glass tube annealing, if the heat isn’t even, you get internal stress. Simple as that. The problem is that when your furnace is cramped, stock lamps leave gaps. Those gaps become cold spots. We fix this by bending the lamps to wrap around your workpiece. It lets you get the heat source way closer to the glass without worrying about things bumping into each other.
The Trade-offs (The part people forget)
Here’s the thing: you can’t just chop a lamp shorter and call it a day. If we shorten the lamp but keep the wattage the same, we’re increasing the surface load. Basically, the lamp runs hotter. If your ventilation isn’t great, it’ll burn out fast. That’s why we tweak the filament winding and wattage to match the new size. You just have to make sure your power supply is on board with the specific voltage and amps of the custom build.
Getting it Running
These are designed to be drop-in replacements. We’ll match your current connectors so you aren’t spending all day messing with wiring. When the lamp actually fits the interior of your furnace, you stop wasting energy and your glass hits annealing temperature much faster. Just a heads-up: because these custom shapes are specialized, they can be a bit more fragile. Be gentle when you’re sliding them in—quartz doesn’t like being stressed.