Getting Your Sidel SBO and Matrix Lamps to Actually Work Together
If you’re running a mix of old-school SBO 20 Series 2s and the newer Matrix lines, you know the headache. Getting the heat to stay consistent across different generations of blowmolders is a pain. We wanted to fix that, so we built replacement lamps that actually bridge that gap. The power side of things Here’s the deal: these lamps run on high-voltage circuits to get that PET preform exactly where it needs to be. We kept the electrical specs identical to the OEM ones. Why? Because nobody wants to spend their weekend rewiring an oven. We tuned the power density so your plastic hits that glass transition temperature without scorching. But a quick heads-up: these are high-wattage tubes in a tight space.**Keep your cooling fans clean.**If they’re clogged with dust, the housing will overheat, and that’s a problem you don’t want. No jigs, no brackets, no fuss We went with heavy-wall quartz glass. It’s tougher and doesn’t burn out the second things get hot. Depending on your SBO setup, you’ll find these use standard R7s or SK15 connectors. We obsessed over the physical dimensions—the length, the pin spacing, all of it. We wanted a “drop-in” experience. You shouldn’t need custom jigs or weird adapter brackets to make this work. Just one tip: make sure the lamp is seated flush in the socket. If it’s loose, you’ll get arcing, and that will kill your filament instantly. Better bottles, faster cycles At the end of the day, it’s all about the heat distribution. You want a stable infrared output that matches the Sidel profile. When you get that right, those annoying “cold spots” disappear. No more weird wall thickness variations in your bottles. It’s a direct fit for both SBO and Matrix ranges. Sure, the higher intensity puts a bit more strain on your power supply, but the payoff is worth it. You get faster cycle times and a much better stretch ratio. It just works.