Getting the Most Out of VN Halogen Heating Lamps
If you’re running industrial processes where you need heat—and you need it now—that’s where our VN series comes in. We basically take a tungsten filament, wrap it in high-purity quartz, and add a halogen gas mix. The gas is the secret sauce here; it stops the filament from evaporating and gunking up the glass, which keeps your lamps clear and working longer. Let’s talk power. When you’re working with a 2000W+ tube, you aren’t just warming up the air. You’re getting a massive hit of shortwave infrared radiation that sinks right into the material. It’s fast. Really fast. But here’s a pro tip: keep an eye on your reflectors. If they’re pitted or looking a bit oxidized, you’re basically throwing heat away. You’ll lose a huge chunk of that energy before it even hits your target. The build and the fit Since these lamps cycle on and off rapidly, we use quartz that can handle the thermal shock without cracking. For the fit, we usually go with R7s or Sk15 connectors. They’re designed to be drop-in replacements, so you shouldn’t have to rebuild your whole machine just to swap a bulb. Some of our versions even have a special coating. It tweaks the light spectrum so the heat hits the material exactly where it’s needed, which means you can avoid those annoying scorched spots on the surface. Where they actually live (and how not to kill them) You’ll mostly see these in PET blowing machines or automotive paint lines. They can get material to a softening point in a matter of seconds. But there’s a catch. High-wattage tubes are sensitive. If your voltage jumps around, they’ll burn out way faster than they should. You really need a stable power supply and a solid PID controller to keep things steady. Without that regulation, you might just pop the filament the second you ramp up. And please, don’t skimp on the cooling fans. If the housing gets too hot, the lamp is going to fail prematurely. Keep it cool, keep the power steady, and these things will do the heavy lifting for you.