Getting More Out of Your Old SIG Blomax
If you’re running an older SIG Blomax 4, 6, 8, or 10, you probably know the feeling. The machine just isn’t hitting the numbers it used to. It slows down. You lose cycle time. Most of the time, it’s because your heating elements are just tired. But here’s the thing: you don’t need to rip out the whole oven to fix it. Usually, a simple swap to higher-density infrared (IR) lamps does the trick. The Heat Factor These machines use short-wave IR to get those PET preforms soft enough to blow. Now, you have to be careful here. Your wattage and voltage need to line up with your power supply. If you go with a lamp that has a higher wattage than what came with the machine, you’ll get heat penetrating the plastic much faster. That means you can crank up the machine speed. Just keep in mind there’s a catch. More heat puts more stress on your reflectors. And if your timing is off by even a split second? You risk scorching the preform. It’s a balance. Built to Last (And Fit) We use high-purity quartz glass for our lamps. Why? Because these things go through a brutal cycle of heating and cooling, and cheap glass just warps. We also stick to R7s or SK15 connectors. A loose connection is a nightmare. It creates resistance, the terminal overheats, and eventually, you’ve burned out the socket. The best part is that these are drop-in replacements. The length and diameter are a perfect match for the SIG footprint. No rewiring the oven, no modifying holders. You just put them in and go. Putting It Into Practice Swapping these lamps is probably the quickest way to get your heating profile stable again. You’ll notice it immediately in your bottles—the wall thickness just looks more consistent. One quick tip before you start: higher-output lamps make the inside of the oven a lot hotter. Check your cooling fans. Make sure they’re clean and actually moving air. If your vents are clogged with dust, those new lamps will just bake your machine frame instead of heating the PET.