Quartz Heaters
The quartz heater consists of a fused silica or quartz glass tube with an inlaid heating coil. There is no additional filler material between the heating conductor and pipe. There are various forms of construction, one of which is a panel heater in the form of a cartridge with multiple quartz tubes positioned next to each other.
Installation of an integrated thermocouple directly next to the heating conductor is only possible to a limited extent due to the design of the quartz heater. Because of its construction, the heating conductor may undergo a comparatively high thermal load due to individual coils of the heating conductor moving toward one another ("migration of the heating coils") during operation; this is seen as a frequent and premature cause of failure.
Furthermore, the quartz heater may not be operated in the vertical position so as not to damage the exposed heating coils.
The quartz tubes, arranged next to each other in the quartz panel heaters are surrounded on the sides and to the rear by a metal housing that serves as a mounting but is also necessary as a reflector. Quartz heaters with higher power in particular often lose reflector power at an early stage due to scaling.
In comparison to ceramic heaters, the quartz heater is a much more fragile construction not suitable for all mechanical load situations and operating conditions such as vibration, impact and collision with materials.