A Better Way to Handle Your Krones Contiform Heating
Let’s be honest: keeping Krones Contiform lines running is expensive. Especially when you start looking at the price tags for OEM replacement parts. It feels like a shakedown. That’s why we make quartz tube heaters that do exactly what the originals do, but without the “brand name” tax. We’ve built these specifically for the brutal, high-intensity heat needed to get PET preforms ready for blowing. The heat is the hard part. The trick with the Contiform process is getting the PET wall hot and uniform—fast—without actually scorching the plastic. To do that, you need a lot of power in a very small space. If you’re running a 400V high-voltage setup, you’ve got the density you need for those quick cycle times. But a word of advice: when you’re pushing those wattage limits, your power supplies take a hit. Make sure your cooling fans are actually working. If they aren’t, you’re looking at melted sockets, and nobody wants to deal with that on a Tuesday morning. What’s actually inside the tube? We use high-purity quartz glass. Why? Because it lets the IR transmission through without fighting it. Plus, we add specialized coatings to most of our tubes. Instead of wasting heat by warming up the machine frame, these coatings push the energy right where it belongs: onto the preform. As for the connectors, we use R7s or Sk15 depending on which oven generation you’re running. They’re standard industrial fits. They snap in tight. That’s important because a loose fit leads to arcing, which is exactly how those cheap, no-name lamps burn out in a week. Getting them on the floor The best part? These are just drop-in replacements. You don’t have to touch your wiring cabinets. You don’t have to mess with the oven racks. Since the length and voltage match the original Krones specs perfectly, your heat profile stays exactly where you want it. We also spend a lot of time on the tungsten filament stability. There’s nothing worse than a lamp popping the moment you flip the switch. We’ve dialed that in so your scrap rate stays low and your line keeps moving.