Hi-Watt Designs Custom Multi-Zone Heated Platen System

An OEM needed Hi-Watt to design and produce a turnkey heated platen system and controls package within 7 weeks, a request that can typically take months to complete. The client couldn’t use a single-zone system with an off-the-shelf controller. They needed a custom solution to help maintain better uniformity and prevent heat loss.

The Problem

Heated platen systems can be complicated to design, and the expedited timeline added to the challenge. Achieving temperature uniformity was the hardest problem to solve because hot spots and cold edges are common performance problems in platen systems, and our customer couldn’t afford early failures.

Our Solution

Hi-Watt tested multiple system designs, considering how often setpoints would need to be changed, what materials were being heated, which heaters would work the best within the system, the number of independent zones, where to place the thermocouple, and how to effectively manage power.

Results

Instead of delivering separate components, our team successfully designed the platen, heaters, sensors, and controls as a complete system within the requested 7 weeks, helping our customer avoid a longer equipment timeline.