Stop Fighting Your Sidel SBO 20: The Secret to Consistent Heat
If you’re running a Sidel SBO 20 Series 1, you know the drill. Heating consistency is everything. When your IR lamps aren’t pulling their weight equally, you get those annoying cold spots in the preform. Then comes the headache: uneven walls and bottles that burst during the blow cycle. It’s frustrating. We fixed this by focusing on one thing:100% power matching.
Why “Close Enough” Isn’t Good Enough
Most lamps you buy off the shelf claim they hit the right wattage. But in the real world, a tiny 5% difference between tubes creates massive temperature swings inside your oven. We don’t just ship them; we calibrate them. We make sure the wattage output is identical across every single lamp in the bank. The result? A heat profile that actually stays put. You can finally stop obsessing over the control panel every time a lamp burns out.
The Nitty-Gritty
These are shortwave infrared halogen lamps built for heavy lifting. We use high-purity quartz because it can handle the shock of rapid heating and cooling without cracking. They use standard R7s/Sk15 connectors, so they just slide right in. No rewiring. No messing around with the oven footprint. Just plug and play. We also added a specific coating to the quartz. Instead of just scorching the surface of the PET, the heat actually penetrates deep into the material.
A Word of Caution
Here’s the thing: high power density is a bit of a double-edged sword. These lamps hit your target temp fast, but they’re demanding. If your reflectors are pitted or oxidized, you’re wasting energy and risking an overheated oven housing. You won’t feel the full benefit of the power matching if your reflectors are dirty. **My advice?**When you swap in these high-output tubes, take a second to check your cooling fans and airflow paths. Keep everything clean, and these lamps will treat you right.