If you're in industrial manufacturing, you’ve likely worked with conventional cartridge heaters for years. They’re familiar, widely available, and often considered the default solution for localized heating in metal parts. But what if there was a better way, one that not only delivers more consistent heat but also cuts cycle times, improves part quality, and reduces scrap?
That’s exactly what split-sheath cartridge heaters are designed to do.
At Dalton Electric, we developed the Watt-Flex® cartridge heater to solve the core limitations of conventional designs. Standard heaters rely on radiant and convective heat transfer and typically leave air gaps between the heater and the bore wall. These gaps reduce heat transfer efficiency, create hot spots, and often lead to premature heater failure.
The Watt-Flex® uses a split-sheath design that expands to make full, uniform contact with the bore wall. This results in direct conductive heat transfer, which is significantly more efficient. That means:
And because the heater expands to fit the bore, it even compensates for minor imperfections or bore wear over time.
The benefits aren’t just technical, they’re operational and financial. By switching to split-sheath heaters, our customers have reported:
When a heater performs better, the entire process becomes more efficient. For many industrial manufacturers, that translates to lower energy usage, fewer line stoppages, and ultimately, greater ROI.
If you're working with tight specs, high uptime demands, or inconsistent thermal performance, this technology can make a measurable difference. Dalton heaters have been deployed in thousands of machines across applications like sealing, forming, die casting, and injection molding, especially in high-demand sectors like aerospace, defense, medical, and food processing.