Dr. Mueller Solarmed
heat lamp
QUARTZ-TUBULARS
Quartz tubulars consisted of heat resistant quartz
glass, holding a coiled filament. The filament could
be implemented as an open coil or it could be
wrapped around a solid core of for instance quartz
glass. The filament mostly consisted of Kanthal, a
metal that started glowing at relatively low
temperatures and that, most importantly, did not burn
in atmospheric conditions. The radiation range of
quartz tubes was roughly from 2000 to 2300 nm
which is well above that of infrared incandescent
lamps, being 1000 to 1400 nm. Since the most
beneficial infrared radiation lays in the near infrared
area, ranging from 700 to 1400 nm, infrared
incandescent lamps were much more effective for
therapeutic purposes and the use of quartz tubes
was more suitable for cosmetic applications. Quartz
tubes on the other hand, had a better shock
resistance than incandescent lamps and were more
compact as well. For this reasons quartz tubes,
despite their lower performance, were commonly applied in combined infrared- and
ultraviolet sun-lamp applications, the quartz tube acting as the serial ballast for the
ultraviolet device. The Dr. Mueller Solarmed on display here, was a therapeutic heat
lamp fitted with a quartz tubular only.
