On the blow molding floor, the heating tunnel doesn’t cut you any slack. Preform temperature has to be repeatable, cycle after cycle. If lamp output drifts or the reflector geometry is off, you’ll see inconsistent stretch, weak necks, and scrap piling up. The replacement lamp we spec for the Sidel SBO Series 2 keeps the heating profile stable without forcing you to rework the oven. What matters, technically We stick to the OEM parameters that actually matter on the machine. It’s a short-wave infrared quartz lamp—2400 W, 230 V, 300 mm arc length, 320 mm overall. The base is a standard R7s connector, and the cold-end length is dimensioned to the same footprint so it seats cleanly in the reflector. Filament temperature and spectral output are chosen to line up with PET absorption, so you get fast, even heating without hot spots. The same dimensional and electrical envelope fits the SBO Series 2 and plays cleanly with common configurations on Krones, SIPA, Husky, and SACMI stretch blow molders—no rewiring, no swapping reflectors. Here’s why it holds up in production. In stretch blow molding, repeatability is the only scoreboard. With this lamp, preform heating settles faster after a changeover, and temperature drift across the tunnel tightens up. The payoff is fewer rejects, more consistent bottle weight, and a higher first-pass yield. Energy use comes down because the emitter hits target quickly and holds it with stable output. Under normal line conditions, you can expect 5,000+ hours of service life, which means fewer maintenance windows and more uptime. A few shop-floor details. Installation is straightforward, but reflector condition is critical. If the reflector is oxidized or pitted, the lamp will underperform even with perfect specs. Check reflector alignment and clean the mounting surfaces before swapping in the new one. Also, measure the voltage at the socket—sustained overvoltage will shorten lamp life, even when the lamp matches the rated spec. Use the correct connector orientation and don’t touch the quartz with bare skin; oil residues bake on and drive hot spots and premature failure.