The Power and Precision You Need for Complex Heating Applications
In today’s increasingly demanding marketplace, flexible silicone heaters have become the advanced heating solution de rigueur. Two common types are etched foil and wire-wound heaters. Both types offer significant benefits in applications requiring precise, uniform heating.Etched foil heaters are ideal for applications requiring thin, lightweight construction, precise temperature control, even
heat distribution, and fast heat-up times. Wire-wound heaters are well suited for applications that require greater durability and resistance to mechanical stress, environments where higher temperatures are needed, and use on curved or irregularly shaped surfaces.
What Are Flexible Silicone Heaters?
When it comes to efficient and reliable heating solutions, flexible silicone heaters are the premier choice for a wide range of applications. Flexible silicone heaters are thin, lightweight, and durable heating elements made from silicone rubber. They are designed to provide efficient, even heat distribution in order to achieve precise temperature control.
Silicone heaters are highly flexible, allowing them to conform to the surfaces they are attached to, and can be easily integrated into systems where space and weight are concerns. You can read in more details all about our etched foil and wire-wound heaters on this comprehensive resource page we created for OEMs in various industries, who use these heaters for diverse applications.
These highly adaptable heaters provide significant advantages to engineers and manufacturers working across many industries, including:
Medical & Life Sciences: dialysis, CPAP, DNA analysis, blood diagnostics, surgical irrigation, blood/fluid warming, instrument warming, MRI equipment, temperature therapy, sterilization
Aviation & Transportation: instrumentation, personal comfort heating in aviation, over the road truck and railcar freeze protection, battery and oil heating, auto and motorcycles.
Telecommunications: antennas, enclosures, microwave repeaters, back-up battery systems
Food Service: warming cabinets, heated display shelves, prep stations, fryer systems, toasting/grilling platters
Security: chemical detection, explosives detection, cameras
Energy: fuel cells, power meters, battery systems, transmission switches
Industrial: packaging lines, electronic enclosures, freeze protection, motor heaters, cold storage equipment
Silicone Etched Foil Heaters: Precise, High Wattage Heating
Etched foil heaters use a thin layer of foil that is chemically etched to create a resistive heating element. The etching process allows for fine, intricate patterns in the foil, ensuring that heat is evenly distributed across the surface of the heater. The thin foil is then laminated between layers of silicone rubber, making the heater durable and flexible.
Etched foil heaters combine the structural stability and flexibility of silicone rubber with the precise heating controls of etched foil. Backer Howatt’s durable, flexible silicone etched foil heaters offer up to twice the wattage of wire-wound options and work well for complex heat patterns and even distribution.
Key features of etched foil heaters include:
- Uniform Heat Distribution: The precise etching provides consistent heat distribution, reducing the chances of hotspots.
- Thin and Lightweight: These heaters are extremely thin, often less than a millimeter thick, making them ideal for tight spaces or applications where weight is a concern.
- Rapid Heating: The etched foil design allows for fast heat-up times due to its low mass and efficient thermal transfer.
- Customizability: The etched pattern can be tailored to meet specific heating requirements, allowing for precise temperature control.
Silicone Wire-Wound Heaters: Durability Meets Flexibility
As opposed to etched foil heaters, wire-wound heaters feature a resistance wire wound in a serpentine pattern. The wire is embedded between silicone layers, providing a robust heating element that can withstand harsher environmental conditions. These heaters are typically thicker than etched foil heaters but can offer greater durability for some applications.
Moisture and chemical resistant, Backer Hottwat’s wire-wound heaters can be vulcanized, equipping wire-wound heating elements with the ability to fit over custom components and follow compound curves. Our designers work with a variety of material combinations—selected specifically to meet your resistance density and mechanical requirements—and our fast, cost-effective prototyping helps accelerate R&D and time to market.
Key features of wire-wound heaters include:
- Durability: The wire-wound construction makes these heaters more rugged and suitable for demanding applications where the heater may be exposed to vibration, shock, or moisture.
- Flexibility: Despite being slightly thicker, wire-wound heaters maintain a high degree of flexibility, making them ideal for use on curved surfaces.
- High-Temperature Capability: Wire-wound heaters can often operate at higher temperatures than etched foil heaters, making them suitable for extreme environments.
- Cost-Effective: In some cases, wire-wound heaters can be more affordable, especially for applications where precise heat distribution is less critical.
Advanced Materials Engineered for Heating Performance
Backer Hotwatt offers a variety of custom heating solutions, engineered using different materials, for specific applications. These include:
- Polyimide Film & All-Polyimide Etch Foil Heaters: These ultra-thin, low mass heaters are ideal for applications requiring low outgassing, operating in extreme environments, or where space and weight allowances are limited.
- Etched Mica Heaters: Offering large dimensions, tight traces, and high watt density, our etched mica heaters offer an operating temperature range of -150°C to 500°C.
- Polyester Etched Foil Heating Elements: An economical solution for low-temperature, larger-scale applications, these polyester heaters are constructed using an etched foil heating element. Advanced circuit imaging combined with chemical etching allows designers the flexibility to distribute wattage while creating multiple heat patterns in a single heater.
While today’s discussion focused more on etched foil and wire-wound heaters, you will also learn about polyimide film and all-polyimide flexible etched foil heaters, etched mica heaters, and polyester etched foil heating elements on the resource webpage mentioned above.
Flexible Heating Solutions Customized for Your Application
Backer Hotwatt’s flexible silicone heaters offer an extensive range of features and capabilities—including enhanced circuit repeatability, variable wattage options, excellent moisture resistance and thermal stability. Engineered to perform under the most demanding conditions, our custom flexible silicone heating solutions deliver the precision, reliability, and efficiency your applications demand.
Our engineering team help you design the perfect heating solution that meets your specific requirements and gives you a competitive edge in your market. How can we help you with your next heating project? Contact an engineer today to discuss your flexible silicone heating requirements. We look forward to helping you soon.