Making Your Printing Press Lamps Just… Work
Let’s be honest: nobody wants to spend their weekend messing around with custom brackets or rewiring a machine just to get a new lamp in. You just want to slide the part in, flip the switch, and get back to printing. That’s why we build our infrared lamps to be true drop-in replacements for the five biggest printing press brands out there. But here’s the thing. It’s not as simple as just making a tube the right length. If the electrical load or the heat doesn’t match what the original manufacturer intended, you’re asking for trouble. The electrical side of things We make tubes in a ton of different wattages and voltages because every shop is different. One of the biggest headaches we see is voltage drop—where the heat isn’t consistent across a long bank of lamps. We’ve tweaked our filaments so you get a steady, reliable heat density, whether you’re running 220V or 380V. Just a heads-up: if you’re tempted to cram a higher wattage into a short tube to speed up your curing, be careful. You’re risking a burnout. Always double-check that your wiring and power supply can actually handle the extra pull. Materials and the “fit” We use high-purity quartz glass. Why? Because these things go through brutal heat cycles, and cheap glass just cracks. As for the connectors, we stick to the basics like R7s and SK15. No fancy proprietary nonsense here. It means you don’t have to touch your sockets or modify the chassis. You can choose between clear or coated tubes. The coated ones are great if you need to hit specific ink pigments, though you’ll notice a slight dip in raw heat compared to the clear quartz. Getting it running The goal is simple: no custom brackets, no drilling, no stress. We match the length and pin layout down to the millimeter so they just slide right into your existing housings. One last tip from experience. If you’re putting a high-output lamp into an older machine, keep an eye on your cooling fans. If the air in that lamp box gets too hot, your quartz life will tank. Keep the airflow clear, and your lamps will last much longer.