Finger cartridge heaters are specialized heating components that are characterized by high precision, durability and versatility. Used in many industries, from the food industry to advanced technological systems, they provide reliable and efficient heating, which is often difficult to achieve with ceramic or tubular heaters. Thanks to their design, they allow a quick response to temperature changes and precise temperature maintenance, which is crucial in processes requiring high accuracy. In this article we will present the main benefits of using Cartridge Finger Heaters and discuss their practical and technical aspects that make them indispensable in many industrial applications.
When to apply a cartridge heater?
Finger cartridge heaters can be both a factory component of a given machine, and a solution to a problem in a completely different machine, in which they were not previously used. To better illustrate this topic, we will use examples.Let's imagine that, for example, we produce nuts and suddenly we notice that a given nut in one place is unpolished, does not have a complete structure or comes out damaged. The reason is too low a temperature in a particular location. The solution in this case may be to add a heater or several cartridge heaters precisely at these points with a lower temperature. Very often this can be done even if such a heater was not included in the original design.The need to add a cartridge heater may arise in the process, because although initially the mold was well designed and the system worked flawlessly, factors such as plastic or the amount of production in a certain time may have changed over time. Simply, any change during production could have affected the need to increase the temperature, which the current system is not able to provide.Instead of replacing the machine or a larger and more expensive element, additional heating components can be easily made, for example in the form of patron heaters.The location can be checked using calculation programs that allow you to read the heat distributions. With them, you can verify exactly where the heater should be designed to heat the area you need, where a specific temperature is needed, or which area to warm up first.
Compact design of finger cartridge heaters
Cartridge heaters are very often used to heat small, critical places, so their most important feature is that they have a compact design, which allows them to be installed in a severely limited space. At the same time, they can get a fairly large heating power, up to 20-25 W/cm2, warming up at a very fast rate. This makes them an ideal solution where space saving is important and at the same time high heating efficiency is required.The smallest cartridge heaters of our production have dimensions fi4x20 or thinner but longer fi3,5x35m. These are miniature heaters made for the company Woseba - a coffee manufacturer, designed for a machine that burns holes in plastic. Such a machine has very small dimensions, hence the need for a miniature heater.It is worth emphasizing that our production standard regarding the diameter of cartridge heaters is every 1/10 mm, i.e.; 4; 4.1; 4.2; 4.3; 4.4 etc.
Energy efficiency
Finger cartridge heaters They are characterized by high energy efficiency. Why? First of all, because the cartridge heater has a very small heat capacity due to its small size. It does not accumulate heat inside itself, but tries to radiate it completely to the outside. This is also greatly influenced by the design itself, in which we try to ensure that the internal heating element is located as close as possible to the housing itself. The closer it is, the more heat is radiated to the outside, and less remains inside.
A well-made cartridge heater is perfectly round, which cannot be achieved even in tubular heaters. This is achieved by grinding. Such a heater is placed in the hole, which is also ground. In such an arrangement, between the heater and the opening there is a very small gap. If this gap is minimal, i.e. 0.03 mm, the heater under the influence of temperature will expand and fit perfectly. In this way, it does not waste energy on heating the air accumulated in the gap, only immediately heats the destination. Losses are reduced and energy efficiency is increased.
Long service life of finger cartridge heaters
The longevity of heaters is primarily affected by heat reception. The smaller it is, the more the heater overheats. Assured heat reception definitely extends its service life by several years.Of course, the performance of cartridge heaters can be influenced, first of all, through service and maintenance. How to carry out the service? The main principle of inspection is to check whether the socket in which the heater is installed has not burned out or whether it has not accidentally oxidized, since in such a situation the gap between the heater and the housing increases. The hole under the heater, after time it will burn out. Thus, the heater in the middle has less heat reception. Therefore, it is advisable to check the sockets in which there are cartridge heaters, whether they happen to have a backlash. This is easy to verify, because when you pull out the heater, in the place where there is a backlash, in this case for example in the center, it will have a purple color. This means that the heater in this place heats the air, and only the air heats the destination, so it has to produce more, has a higher temperature than it should and burns out faster.So this distance should be eliminated at the very beginning. In what way? During production, cartridge heaters are ground to a perfectly round shape with a tolerance of H7, that is, approx. 0.03 mm. This is how the hole should be sanded. We will find out about heat losses and energy efficiency in the operation of the heater, despite the fact that we have ensured the temperature at which we wanted on the surface thanks to tables and templates. Looking at the heater, it is easy to verify that the heater worked under non-standard conditions. When, for example, a heater burns out without prior maintenance, it is worth analyzing whether, for example, it is all black or if there are overheating points on its entire surface. This may mean that the heater does not burn out because it is too weak, but that the mold in which the heater is embedded has simply formed and needs to be refreshed. In this case, you need to widen the hole, for example, by 10 mm, aligning it. For such a socket, a new matching patron heater should be made. To avoid such situations, it is good to check the socket at least once a year. It is also worth considering what steel the machine is made of (e.g. aluminum), whether it is hardened or not, at what temperature it works. In case of high temperatures, i.e. 500 — 550 degrees, the heater should be checked every six months. All lower once a year.
Wide application of finger cartridge heaters
Finger cartridge heaters are versatile and are used in many industries, such as food, pharmaceutical, chemical or electronic industries.Above all, the cartridge heater is used for heating or reheating of solids, for any injection molds, stamping, packaging or punching and many other processes where precise temperature control is required. The advantage of patrons over tubular heaters in the form is the already mentioned grinding, as well as a precise fit. Tubular heaters are obtained from under the cylinder, where the tolerance is +/- 0.1 mm, while in cartridge heaters the tolerance is 0.03 mmCartridge heaters are also used in various types of tanks with liquids, oil and gas. A good example here can be welding gas separators. The gas when expanding reduces its temperature very much. In the long term of operation, for example in the case of welding or gas distribution, valves that are very small and fragile and the gas inside can freeze. Thus, the place near the valve must be heated, at least to a neutral temperature. Due to the very small space in the valve, cartridge heaters are ideal, which are the only ones that can be made on a micro scale.
It is also worth noting that the heater can have different wires depending on its specificity. The entire heater, from its interior to the current outlet, is always designed according to the customer's requirements, that is, if we know that something will work at high temperature, then it becomes obvious that the wires must also be resistant to it and we also use such, for example, high temperature wires up to 360 degrees. The same applies to all types of adhesives or binders.
Precise temperature control in finger cartridge heaters
One of the key advantages Cartridge Finger Heaters there is the possibility of precise temperature control. This is another of the advantages of cartridge heaters over tubular or ceramic ones. At the production stage, a special sensor is placed in the heater with two additional wires connected to the regulator, which allows you to measure the temperature directly inside the heater, preventing its damage or burnout, as well as to control the entire device, the entire mold regulating the temperature from 20 to 500 degrees.
To be able to talk about precise control, it is worth emphasizing that not only the accuracy class of the sensor is important, but also the entire temperature control system. If the heater and sensor are precise, and the regulator is not, then the whole, unfortunately, is imprecise. Inaccuracy can not be attributed to the heater itself.
Mechanical Strength of Finger Cartridge Heaters
Finger cartridge heaters They are characterized by high resistance to mechanical damage and corrosion, which makes them an ideal solution for operation in harsh industrial conditions. However, it is worth mentioning that despite the high resistance to pressure, they are not resistant to large vibrations, which through microvibrations inside the heater damage the wires.You can, however, exert a very large pressure on it or screw the heater between two multi-tone plates. This is because already the heater itself in its design is clamped with a force of several tens of tons.
summary
Finger cartridge heaters are invaluable in situations where precision in terms of temperature, location and size is required. It is worth remembering that these are the only elements that can be made on a microscale. An important distinguishing feature is also that cartridge heaters have very low thermal inertia, i.e. that they give all the heat immediately to the heated element, without accumulating it in themselves, which affects a much faster response than in the case of other heaters.Thanks to these characteristics, they can be an ideal solution for a wide variety of heating systems.If you are looking for high quality Cartridge Finger Heaters, visit Sinkoplex website and take a look at our offer.