Our Technical team at DR Optical Disc India Pvt. Ltd., with their years of experience and expertise, have listed out some useful tips to help our customers to increase the life of their UV lamps. This information and guidelines will help you to maximize the lifetime of your UV lamps.
Avoid Repeated Starts
When a lamp first starts, there is low internal pressure. During this period, the electrodes give out poorly, throwing off tungsten into the lamp. This causes lot of contamination which could result in a premature failure of the lamp.
To avoid this, the Lamps power supply is designed to start at a high Voltage. This reduces the time period, for which they are in the starting mode. Repeated starts result in premature darkening at the ends, which will result in a drop in the output power, as the darkening penetrates the body of the lamp.
Advice: Plan in advance and collect all the jobs to be done. Then start the lamp and try to finish all the jobs together, in one go. Make sure to avoid stopping and re-starting the lamps frequently.
Inspect Lamp, Reflectors and Cooling System
Proper Curing of the substrate often fails due to neglected lamp and system maintenance. It is seldom due to problems with the lamp itself. Frequent ‘preventative maintenance’ at regular pre decided periods will reduce the chance of UV Lamp failure and system break down. Below mentioned are a few simple steps which we advise, should be adopted regularly. It should be done ideally after about, every 500 hours of Lamp usage, to improve the operating life time of your UV Lamp and the complete UV curing system.
Clean the lamp at regular intervals, to remove any residue which can cause devitrification. UV Lamps should always be handled using only gloves and cleaned properly with isopropanol. Before cleaning the Lamp, do make sure that the Lamp has properly cooled down to room temperature.
Regularly inspect the reflectors, to ensure that they are clean and free of distortion from the lamp’s radiated heat. Regular cleaning or replacement of reflectors is required to achieve maximum efficiency of both the UV Lamp and system. Accumulated dust on the Blower Blades restricts proper air flow and reduces cooling. If the Lamps are too hot during operation, it can droop or expand, triggering a drop in the operating voltage and wattage, resulting and a reduction in quality.
Keeping the Blower blades clean, boosts cooling which can restrict a lamp from drooping. Sometimes the UV lamps sag unnoticeably, so they should be rotated at regular periods. Clean the power and UV system air filters which may be clogged with dust particles. Check for any holes or cracks in Exhaust pipes, which result in a reduced exhaust and cooling. Regularly clean the complete UV system (i. e. the body and shutters).
Advice: Frequent maintenance of the UV lamp fixture and reflectors is highly advisable. Do clean them as frequently as possible and replace when it is necessary. Rotate the UV Lamp whenever you clean or replace your reflector.
Fix Lamps with Care
To increase a UV lamp’s life, follow the UV system’s Instruction Manual carefully. For example, clean oil on the UV Lamp Quartz tube, by using a newspaper, clean Cloth or gloves. Using an alcohol wipe is also advisable to ensure clean Lamp body.
It is very important to ensure that all the Electrical connections are tight and not left lose or damaged. A lose Electrical Connection may result in High voltage sparks, causing danger to the whole system
In the case of Hanovia type, spring loaded sockets, make sure that the sockets are in good condition with proper spring tension and clean contact surfaces.
UV Lamps that are held fixed in their mounts should not be tightened too much. This can result in restriction of movements, as the reflectors expand, contract and warp during the operation. More attention is essential for UV lamps that do not have wires for their Electrical Connection.
With lamps in which the electrical connection is made through the hanging clamps, the clamp area should be tight and clean. In such a case, most of the manufacturers allow for some overall flexibility with the mount. As is obvious, spring type mounts must have good tension. Most of the UV Lamps of this type are small, exposure type, and expansion is less of a factor.
Advice: Follow the supplier’s installation instructions strictly to ensure that the UV Lamp is mounted properly. Make use of gloves or a paper towel to avoid putting any finger marks or Oil marks on the UV lamp surface.
By following the above simple but essential procedures, you can make sure to get the maximum out of your UV Lamps and system. Breakdowns can also be reduced to a great extent, resulting in maximum output and lifetime of a UV Lamp.
Wishing all the users a very Happy Curing, with the best quality results.
For any further details, please contact the undersigned.
Devesh K S Rathore
DR Optical Disc India Pvt. Ltd.
“An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company”
WH-1, First Floor, Phase -1,
Mayapuri Industrial Area, New Delhi – 110064
Tel :- +91-11-41833602 / 03, Cell :- +91 9818150020, 9717050020
Skype : drathore_hanky
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