On a Contiform blow molder, uneven preform heating shows up immediately. You get off-spec bottles, scrap climbs, and the heating tunnel starts chasing setpoints instead of holding them. The heater lamp sits dead center in that control loop. If it drifts, you lose consistency. We built the Krones Contiform Pro heater lamp to match the machine’s thermal behavior, not just fit the socket.
What matters, technically
This is a short-wave infrared halogen emitter, engineered for the Contiform Pro heating tunnel geometry and power profile. Specs are 1200–1500 W, 230 V, with an R7s base and a quartz envelope sized to the OEM reflector spacing. The filament geometry and thermal response are tuned so the lamp settles into stable output quickly after each preform cycle, cutting temperature swing between stations. In practice, that means faster recovery and less variation across the preform wall.
The heating window in stretch blow molding is tight. Too little energy and you fight biaxial orientation. Too much and you get crystallization and haze. A lamp that behaves predictably lets you tighten the heating profile without dialing back speed. Operators see fewer thickness excursions, and maintenance gets fewer alarms tied to heating-zone deviation. Energy use drops, too—infrared heats the preform directly, so the tunnel stays cooler and waste heat is reduced.
Installation is straightforward, but alignment is the detail that bites you. The lamp has to sit square in the reflector at the specified distance; otherwise, you get hot spots and cold zones. Handle the quartz envelope with clean gloves or a lint-free wiper—oil residues create hot spots and shorten life. The output is strong, so check reflector condition and shielding before you restart the line.