St. Louis – Watlow, a leading designer and manufacturer of heaters, controllers and temperature sensors, recently added a miniature version cartridge heater to its existing line of FIREROD® cartridge heaters. The 1/8-inch FIREROD features a helically wound resistance wire that produces higher watt densities and contributes to longer service life in space-restricted applications. Industry trends show a reduction in equipment size. Watlow’s 1/8-inch FIREROD provides an ideal solution.
It features an 1/8-inch diameter and internal thermocouple option for temperature control, which is an ideal solution for space limitation problems. Small FIREROD heaters have the ability to work at a high watt density without compromising service life. This makes the heater ideal for space-restricted applications within the aviation, packaging, freeze protection, ink jet printer and gas chromatography industries. Other applications include equipment for the life sciences and analytical markets.Similar to other FIREROD cartridge heaters, Watlow’s 1/8-inch FIREROD sheath is resistant to oxidation and corrosion, even at high temperatures.
It also undergoes a swaging procedure that is designed to improve dielectric strength, heat transfer and tolerance to shock and vibration. Users can achieve desired process temperatures more quickly, and the resistance wires operate at lower temperatures, which is ideal for reducing energy costs and an important factor in determining heater life. Swaging is a procedure that involves reducing a cartridge heater’s diameter by compressing the cartridge heater body filled with magnesium oxide powder to a specific diameter around the resistance and lead wires.
This reduces the spacing between the resistance wires and metal sheath, and compacts the magnesium oxide insulation, which minimizes insulation space and maximizes heat transfer.Watlow’s 1/8-inch FIREROD is available with crimped-on or swaged-in leads with optional Teflon® moisture resistant seals and leads. Mounting options include a one-inch diameter mounting flange (FS flange), and a 90 angle-bend version.
About Watlow
Since the company's founding in 1922, Watlow has brought its thermal expertise to numerous applications, including semiconductor, plastics processing, foodservice equipment, life sciences, power generation, aerospace and others. Headquartered in St.
Louis, Missouri, Watlow is the largest custom designer and manufacturer of industrial heaters, sensors, controllers and software with offices and manufacturing facilities around the world.For more information visit www.watlow.com .
