Hi-Watt Helps Plating Factory Extend Heater Life

Thermal heating systems are critical components of most manufacturing processes, including chemical processing. In many cases, off-the-shelf solutions will degrade faster in harsh environments because they’re not compatible with the materials they’re exposed to or because they’re improperly sized.

The Problem

A plating factory was spending thousands of dollars on heater replacements every quarter because their heaters were failing. Even in high-production environments, heaters should last several years before needing replacement, as long as they’re sized properly and designed to operate in the environment where they’re expected to perform.

Our Solution

Hi-Watt performed a comprehensive Thermal System Assessment and discovered that the root cause was an incorrect watt density for the application, which was causing premature heater failure.

Results

The redesigned heater met the required heat-up time while reducing unplanned downtime from approximately two events per month to one planned preventive-maintenance cycle every six months. Heater replacement frequency improved from roughly every three months to an expected service life of two to four years.