The heater cable is the cable that carries power from the hot runner control unit to the heaters inside the mold.
Its fine-stranded conductor construction allows a cable that moves constantly during mold changes to work for a long time without breaking. The conductors are black and printed with white numerals — on multi-circuit systems it is easy to trace which core goes to which zone; there is also a green/yellow protective earth conductor (PE).
The grey PVC sheath is resistant to oil and chemicals; it can be used in dry and damp environments.
The cable can be supplied pre-assembled with connectors suited to the socket on your mold, or by the meter. FIEGE covers more than 200 connection standards.
Why a special cable is needed
A heater cable looks like an ordinary power cable, but it differs from one in three respects. The first is movement: at a mold change the cable is constantly plugged in and out, bent and coiled. The fine-stranded conductor construction withstands this repeated movement; a standard cable with coarse cores suffers an internal break within a few months.
The second is temperature: the mold surface and its surroundings are constantly hot. That is why the limits of +70 °C in mobile use and +80 °C when permanently installed are set.
The third is chemical resistance: on the mold shop floor there is oil, mold release spray and cleaning chemicals; a standard PVC sheath hardens and cracks over time.
The symptom of an internal break
When the cable looks intact from outside but has started to break inside, the zone concerned heats unsteadily: the temperature drops from time to time, the control unit raises an alarm, and the situation changes when the cable is moved. In this picture the heater is usually the first suspect; yet moving the cable and seeing whether the temperature changes gives the diagnosis quickly.
Connection standard
FIEGE supports more than 200 connection standards. The cable can be supplied pre-assembled or by the meter. The socket type on your mold must match the type on the control unit; if they are incompatible, an adapter box is used.
