Introduction
Swapping out a gallium iodide lamp on your flexo press? It’s more than just a parts change. It’s about taking control of your process. Those old gallium lamps give you the right UV light, sure, but their output fades as the electrodes age. That means your ink cure is never quite the same. We built a new UV lamp system to fix that. It replaces the old unit and gives you consistent, repeatable exposure. No more blurry patterns or colors bleeding because the ink didn’t fully cure.
Technical Deep-Dive
Here’s the thing about those old lamps: they need high voltage to fire up, and the power has to stay steady to keep the light spectrum right. Our replacement system runs on a 400V input and packs 2500W of power. That’s the kind of heat you need to kickstart the photoinitiators in thick flexo inks. We made the tube 300mm long, the standard size, so it just drops into the existing reflector. No need to re-engineer the housing. It cures fast. But with that kind of power, you need a solid cooling system to keep the print deck from getting too hot.
Material & Design
We built the tube out of quartz, chosen for how well it transmits UV and stands up to sudden temperature changes. Inside, the doping is tuned to hit the exact same curing wavelength as the old lamps. We use an R7s connector because it handles the high current and gives you a solid, stable connection. That means less vibration that could throw the arc off. The electrodes inside are shaped to keep the light strong all the way to the end of the lamp’s life. No fading output.
Application & Benefits
When you’re printing labels, the ink has to cure at full press speed—no smearing, no halos. Our lamp keeps the output steady, so you can run faster without worrying about misaligned prints or leftover solvent. Installation is a straight swap. Wire it to the existing ballast, line up the reflector, and you’re back in production. Just keep in mind, more power means more heat. Make sure your airflow and cooling can handle the continuous run.