A Silver Coating For Supplier of Formed Plastic Products to Computer and Stereo Manufacturers

Problem:

Tubular heating elements are clamped onto a large circular plate to create a radiant heater. The plate has four sections with three heaters each. The circular plate is lowered down a large tube and stops approximately 2 to 3 inches (25 to 75 mm) above the silver colored chemical being heated for application onto injection molded plastic parts and cabinets. Process temperature of the powdered chemical is 482°F (250°C). The units are used only five to six times per year for 10 to 12 hours at a time. The application requires careful application of even heat to assure proper results.

Solution:

The customer supplied Watlow with the outside dimensions and heating performance criteria that needed to be held. With computer aided drafting, Watlow was able to evenly cover the plate with a 0.430-inch diameter Incoloy^® sheathed heater. This achieved the sheath length, low watt density and total 48 kilowatts requested by the customer. This increased their total wattage by 33 percent, perfected the coating process and enabled the customer to make production goals.

Value Added:

Application expertise

Incoloy^® is registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation.