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Flexible Heaters
TUTCO Farnam engineers and manufactures highly customized OEM Flexible Heaters for each customer's thermal and environmental requirements. Flexible products are commonly used for adverse conditions and irregular shaped conductive heating applications. All TUTCO flexible heaters are durable, offer quick temperature ramp rates, and high temperatures.
A flexible heater is a device designed to generate heat in various applications while having the ability to conform to different shapes and surfaces. Unlike traditional rigid heaters, these are made from materials that allow them to bend, curve, or fit onto irregular surfaces, making them versatile for different uses. Typical flexible materials include polyimide, silicone rubber or mica each with their own temperature range and flexibility characteristics. Tutco Farnam’s flexible heaters typically consist of heating elements embedded within flexible materials like silicone, polyimide, or mica. We can provide custom-designed solutions to fit specific shapes, sizes, and applications, such as in automotive systems, medical devices, electronics, aerospace, food industry equipment, and more. The flexibility of these heaters gives them a versatility including allowing them to be wrapped around pipes, adhered to surfaces, or molded onto different objects, providing heat where rigid heaters can't be easily applied. And since they can operate efficiently in various environments our flexible heaters are valuable in many industries where traditional heaters would not be suitable.
Types of flexible heaters:
- Silicone Etched-Foil Flexible Heaters
- Polyimide (Kapton) Flexible Heaters
- Mica Conductive Surface Heaters
| CHARACTERISTICS | TYPICAL POLYIMIDE PARAMETERS | TYPICAL SILICONE RUBBER PARAMETERS |
| Size Range | < 1/2" sq. to 27.5" x 19.625" (700mm x 500mm) | < 1/2" sq. to 18" x 24" |
| Temperature Range | 300°F - 390°F (150°C - 200°C) | Up to 428°F(220°C) |
Design & spec your flexible heater online in 5 easy steps. Save and revise your configurations and submit them for quoting. Check our Flex Specs Tool to view and configure your heater.
Polyimide Heaters
Thin, highly precise heaters with excellent dielectric strength. Rapid heat up followed by constant temperature and excellent heat transfer. Ideal anywhere there are space or weight restrictions. Custom Shapes available.
Silicone Rubber Heaters
Silicone rubber heaters are durable industrial products with amazing properties. They are flexible, resistant to many chemicals, heat up quickly and are able to maintain precise temperatures.
Mica Surface Heaters
Mica Surface Heaters heat by conduction and are great for temperatures up to 1200ºF. They are custom heaters designed to give most any desired temperature distribution.
A Silicone Etched-Foil Flexible Heater is a specific type of flexible heater that stands out due to its construction and properties:
Construction: This heater consists of a flexible silicone rubber material with an etched-foil element inside. The etched-foil technique involves chemically etching a resistive foil (often made of materials like nickel or copper) to create a fine and intricate heating pattern. This allows for precise control of heat distribution across the surface of the heater.
Flexibility: Silicone rubber is highly flexible and can withstand a wide range of temperatures, making it suitable for applications that require both flexibility and durability. This flexibility allows the heater to conform to irregular surfaces and shapes.
Uniform Heating: The etched-foil design enables uniform heat distribution across the entire surface of the heater. This even heating is crucial for applications where consistent temperatures are required, such as in medical devices, aerospace equipment, or food industry machinery.
Customization: Silicone Etched-Foil Flexible Heaters can be tailored to fit specific shapes and sizes, making them versatile for various applications. Manufacturers can customize these heaters to meet the exact requirements of different industries and devices.
Temperature Control: These heaters often come with options for precise temperature control and regulation. This is important in applications where maintaining specific temperature ranges is critical.
Rapid Heating: They generally have quick response times, reaching operational temperatures relatively fast compared to some other heating technologies. Overall, the combination of the etched-foil design within a flexible silicone rubber material makes Silicone Etched-Foil Flexible Heaters unique due to their durability, adaptability, precise heating capabilities, and suitability for diverse applications.
Polyimide flexible heaters, often referred to as Kapton heaters due to the brand name of the polyimide film produced by DuPont, have distinctive features that set them apart:
High Temperature Resistance: Polyimide films can withstand a broad temperature range, from extremely low to very high temperatures (typically from -269°C to over 260°C). This high-temperature resistance makes them suitable for applications where other materials might degrade or fail.
Chemical Resistance: Kapton heaters exhibit excellent resistance to chemicals, solvents, and most oils, making them suitable for use in harsh or corrosive environments without compromising performance.
Thin and Lightweight: Polyimide films are exceptionally thin and lightweight, making the heaters low profile. This characteristic is beneficial in applications where space is limited or weight is a concern.
Flexibility and Durability: Similar to silicone-based flexible heaters, polyimide heaters are also highly flexible and durable. They can conform to various shapes and contours, making them adaptable to different surfaces.
Rapid Heat Transfer: Polyimide flexible heaters have good thermal conductivity, allowing for efficient heat transfer. They can achieve rapid heating and uniform temperature distribution across the surface.
Customization: These heaters can be custom-designed to fit specific shapes and sizes. They can also incorporate different wattages, voltages, and heating element configurations to meet precise application requirements.
Electrical Insulation: Kapton film provides excellent electrical insulation properties, ensuring safety and reliability in electrical applications.
Polyimide flexible heaters find applications in industries such as aerospace, electronics, medical devices, food processing, and automotive sectors, where their unique combination of high-temperature resistance, flexibility, durability, and chemical resistance is advantageous.
Manufacturers employ flexible heaters in various industries and applications due to their adaptability, efficiency, and versatility. Here are some examples:
Medical Devices: Flexible heaters are used in medical equipment such as IV fluid warmers, blood analyzers, diagnostic equipment, and patient warmers. They ensure precise and controlled heating in medical settings without hot spots that could cause discomfort or harm.
Aerospace and Aviation: These heaters are utilized in aircraft for de-icing systems, cabin heaters, fuel heating to prevent freezing, and instrumentation heating in avionics to maintain optimal performance in extreme conditions.
Automotive Industry: Flexible heaters find application in vehicles for heating fuel lines, keeping batteries at optimal operating temperatures in electric vehicles, preheating engine components in cold climates, and de-fogging or de-icing windows and mirrors.
Food Industry: In food processing and equipment, these heaters are used for maintaining specific temperatures in cooking appliances, warming trays, food dispensers, and preventing liquids from solidifying in pipes or containers.
Electronics Manufacturing: Flexible heaters assist in maintaining consistent temperatures during electronic assembly processes, controlling the temperature of sensitive components, and ensuring uniform heating in devices like 3D printers.
Industrial Applications: They're used for various industrial processes, such as curing adhesives, preheating parts for molding, maintaining consistent temperatures in pipes or tanks, and preventing condensation in control panels.
Consumer Goods: Applications in consumer goods include heated clothing, heated seats in vehicles, warming pads for pet enclosures, and heated grips for recreational vehicles.
Renewable Energy: Flexible heaters play a role in renewable energy by preventing freezing in wind turbine blades, keeping batteries at optimal temperatures in solar-powered devices, and maintaining efficiency in various renewable energy systems.
These examples illustrate the diverse applications of flexible heaters across industries, highlighting their adaptability and efficiency in providing controlled heating solutions for different purposes.