Band heaters are stupendously durable products, provided you purchase the ones made from stainless steel, 100% nickel wire, and high-temperature mineral insulation.

Of course, even the best products have a finite shelf life, which means it’s worthwhile to take care of them. We thought you might like to know a few “best practices” for guaranteeing a longer life expectancy from industrial-strength band heaters.

How to Extend the Life of Band Heaters

Eliminate Air Pockets - You can break a band heater easily by allowing any amount of air between metal surfaces. That’s because they conduct heat by transferring the electrical current through those metals, and if there’s an anomaly present, you’ll suffer inefficiency, and wear out the material. Sometimes you can resolve this by tapping the outside with a rubber mallet.

Ensure Proper Diameter - If your band is even a little too big for the intended barrel, you could run into trouble. A band that’s one inch longer could create a band circumference that’s two or three inches too wide, forcing you to tighten it more, thus contributing to poor adherence.

Prevent Contamination - Band heaters are no different from the rest of your factory equipment. If they come into contact with chemicals, rubber, oil, plastic, water, or other foreign material, they can damage the band. For facilities that cannot guarantee a sufficiently clean environment, it’s better to select a MICA band over ceramic options.

Use the Correct Wattage - It should come as no surprise that heating equipment will deteriorate faster if you use more wattage than they’re designed to handle. You should never purchase products from manufacturers who don’t specify a maximum wattage. You can see from our website how we offer band heaters with a maximum wattage of either 70 or 100 watts PSI.

Never Use Inferior Products - Besides wattage issues, you’d be doing yourself a disservice to buy “bargain” band heaters. Lower-quality heaters could have the wrong size resistive wire, poor ceramic positioning (between metal plates), and other design flaws.

If those last two issues are your problem, then we’d like to help you resolve them with our superior products. HeaterLogix band heaters leverage the outstanding strength of mineral-insulated and high-temperature MICA. Through proper usage, these are the heating instruments you can count on for the long haul in your factory or other commercial purposes.

HeaterLogix has decades of experience fine-crafting the most reliable heating supplies and equipment. Our inventory includes everything from band heaters and strip heaters to sprue bushings and machine nozzles. Contact us today to discover more by calling 630-884-0000.