Heatron|Elpor Steel Thick Film Technology from Heatron

Heatron's proprietary material system, Elpor® has been used to manufacture high-performance insulated-steel circuit boards for three decades.  These robust circuit boards provide ceramic insulation to surfaces, edges and holes on readily fabricated specialty sheet steel substrates.  They make ideal solutions for high-volume, low-cost heater, power resistor, and high-temperature circuit applications.

Operating temperatures can be up to 350 C (662°F).  The Elpor® steel dielectric can withstand up to 1000 VAC, but is ideal for low-voltage DC application.  Single or double-layer, and double-sided circuits are offered.  Board designs can also provide integrated and edge terminals.

Elpor® steel circuits are typically made with 0.024" and 0.040" thick specialty grade sheet steel insulated with our proprietary Elpor® glass-ceramic dielectric system.  The nominal insulation thickness is ~0.0055" thick per side.  Edges and holes coat slightly thicker due to a meniscus created by surface tension.

Elpor® steel circuits can be fabricated in sizes from less than a square inch up to ~12" x 24" in size.  Thick film circuits can be built on one or both sides, in single or two layers per side.   High-temperature glass and conventional UV-cure resin-based solder masks or encapsulants are available.  Value-added surface-mount circuit component assembly is available in-house from Heatron, as well as more complex system assembly.

Medical & Life Sciences
Dialysis, CPAP, Blood Diagnostics, DNA Analysis, Blood Warming, Fluid Warming, Temperature Therapy, Surgical Irrigation, Sterilization, Instrument Warming, MRI Equipment.

Transportation
Instrumentation, Battery and Oil Heating, Over the Road Truck and Railcar Freeze Protection, Personal Comfort Heating in Auto and Motorcycles.

Food Service
Warming Cabinets, Prep Stations, Heated Display Shelves, Heated Dishware.

Semiconductor
Custom heater and test board solutions

Industrial
Packaging Lines, Motor Heaters, Electronic Enclosures, Freeze Protection, Plastic Fabrication.

Voltage
Elpor® Steel heaters can be custom designed to operate 2 to 240 volts.  Series and parallel resistive heater circuits, including dual-voltage configurations are available.

Wattage
Custom watt density designs are available, providing added efficiency and control.  Our engineers can design different sections of the Elpor® Steel heaters with different watt densities for surface temperature uniformity or to meet wattage targets in a given area of the heater.  Power densities up to 175 W/in² or 27 W/cm² are available.

Sensors
Heatron's Elpor® Steel heaters can be combined with surface-mount thermistors or RTD's for direct on-board feedback control. These SMT sensors on the heater can be provided with independent circuitry within the heater used to return the signal to the lead exit area, maintaining a desirable low profile.

Connecting Leads
Heatron's Elpor® Steel heater can be supplied with power leads soldered directly to the board, or with intergral-faston or edge-type connection systems.  Wire gages typically used are in the 18 to 26 AWG range, but a broad range of connection hardware schemes are available depending on basic heater size and design.

Agency Approvals
Heatron's Elpor® Steel heaters do not have specific agency approval, but have been built into many final assemblies and appliances that have US and international agency approvals.