Useful Information

We are confident when we say that you won’t find another manufacturer with our experience and expertise.

Caltherm started in 1978 as a local engineering company supplying industrial, mechanical, electrical and gas engineering services.

Now, 40 years later, with three generations of the same family on the same site where it all began in 1978, Caltherm are Britain’s leading industrial oven, furnace, and dryer manufacturer.

At Caltherm quality is key. When you work with the most prestigious names in the world, there is no room for error. We work with every industry, from aerospace to automotive, electrical to engineering, not to mention composite, rubber, plastics, glass and pharmaceutical firms.

With vast experience working to standards such as AMS2750G for the aerospace industry, Caltherm are meticulous when it comes to the detail that goes into our design and manufacturing process.

This also carries through to our smaller projects. Whether you are ordering a small box oven or a specialist furnace, the same amount of care and attention goes into every project we undertake.

At Caltherm every product we design is unique. There are no standard sizes as we work with our customers from start to finish to ensure the product they get is exactly right for them.

When buying from other companies with standard designs you are often left with a product that is over designed for your application. At Caltherm, because every product is designed with your process in mind, if you don’t need it we won’t sell it to you! We will ensure that the product does exactly what you need it to do, without any unnecessary features that bring you over budget.

On the same note, we will also ensure that the product comes with everything you do need including any safety features.

From the moment you make your first call to Caltherm to the finished product arriving on site and being installed and commissioned, the whole process is handled from our one site in Newcastle-Under-Lyme.

We have an efficient, dedicated sales team who will be with you every step of the way to deal with any queries and help develop the right product to suit your requirements.

We have our own design team, designing with 3D CAD to bring your concept to life.

We design and build our own control panels with directly employed electricians. All frame fabrication, sheet metalwork and mechanical fitting is completed in-house by Caltherm employees.

Installation, commissioning, and training at the customer’s site is also carried out by Caltherm fitters and electricians.

We are with you every step of the way and Caltherm is the only company you will deal with during the process.

With regular customers such as Rolls Royce, NHE, Safran, Tonejet and BAE Systems (to name a few), you can rest assured that Caltherm take every step to deliver high quality products that keep our customers coming back.

Our relationship with our customers doesn’t stop once a sale is complete. Any queries or questions that you have post sale are dealt with by the same people who you will deal with during the sales process. At Caltherm we don’t have a Customer Service department because we have never needed one!

Just call us up and speak to the same familiar faces you dealt with previously. We are always happy to help.

Caltherm offer a standard 12-month Warranty with all of our products. Once this warranty expires it is important to have a maintenance contract in place to ensure that your equipment stays in tip top shape.

Who better than to maintain the equipment than the company who designed and manufactured it? We can offer fully comprehensive service and maintenance contracts at competitive rates to ensure that you always have peace of mind that your equipment is safe and operating as it should be.

We are more than happy to arrange for any customer to come and see our works in Newcastle-Under-Lyme where you can view the manufacturing process in action and see where the magic happens!

At Caltherm, the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of bespoke ovens and furnaces is our only focus. With staff across the company dedicated to one goal, delivering a product that is right for the customer.

What temperature does your process require?

It is tempting when looking to price an industrial oven or an industrial furnace to overestimate the temperature requirements, however, by doing this you are unintentionally adding to the cost. The best way to get an accurate price is to find out the exact temperature required.

An oven will run from ambient up to 650°C whereas a furnace will run from 500°C to 1300°C.

Once an oven reaches approx. 350°C the internal lining will need to be changed from aluminised steel to stainless steel, therefore you will see a significant price increase.

For example, the price difference between 100°C and 200°C would be negligible, whereas, the price difference between 350°C and 450°C would be substantial.

Therefore, it’s always best to know what is required. However, if you don’t know, we will be able to point you in the right direction. So don’t be afraid to ask.

How big does the oven need to be?

At Caltherm we will ask you the required internal dimensions for the oven.

Working out the internal dimensions for your oven or furnace is fairly simple. As a general rule, if you don’t know what size the oven needs to be, take the largest product that is going to go into the oven and add 100mm on each dimension.

 For example, if your product is 500x500x500mm, you are going to need an oven 600x600x600mm. 

Don’t forget to consider the loading technique for the product. E.g., additional room for trolleys etc.

If your oven needs to be calibrated with a temperature uniformity (e.g., +/- 5) then this area would need to be expanded by approx. 400mm. 

Therefore, the Calibrated area would be 600x600x600mm, whereas the actual chamber dimensions would be 1000x1000x1000mm.

If you don’t know the size of the oven required but you do know the product size just send this to us and we will do the working out for you.

How quickly does the oven or furnace need to reach temperature and how long does it need to stay there?

If you have a set process time that you need to work to let us know and we will do our best to ensure that we meet your requirements.

Some standards such as AMS2750G (used within the Aerospace industry) call for ovens and furnaces to be calibrated to function within a certain temperature range. For example, 250°C +/- 3°C. 

All our ovens will have a certain element of uniformity (approx. +/-5°C to +/-10°C) as standard. All the above means is that the oven will be calibrated and certified to your chosen standard.

If you require temperature uniformity or you are working to a certain specification or standard just let us know. At Caltherm we are familiar with all the industry standards and have vast experience designing and manufacturing ovens to suit.

Where does the door need to be?

 As standard a box oven will have a manually operated, single hinged door to the front. However, there are plenty of options if this doesn’t suit the environment or the size of the oven. Please note that we recommend, where possible that double doors are avoided as single doors offer better temperature uniformity, as well as a cost saving.

Double Hinged Doors – We can provide double doors where a single door would take up too much space when opened.

Vertical Hydraulic Doors – We can provide any oven with a hydraulically operated vertical door. Ideal in situations where space is tight and in larger applications.

Sliding Hydraulic Doors – We can provide any oven with a hydraulically operated sliding door. Ideal in situations where space is tight and in larger applications. Also available in double configuration.

Doors to Front and Back – Referred to as a “Tunnel Oven” we can offer manual or hydraulic doors to both sides of an oven, ideal for loading in one end and unloading out the other.

 Top Loaded Ovens – Our top loaded ovens or “Well Ovens” have the choice of an open top, hydraulic pivot lid or sliding lid available in single or double versions.

Electric or gas-fired are the most common, however, we are experienced with thermal fluid, steam and indirect gas-fired. 

The heating media required really depends on the facilities on site therefore the more we know at enquiry stage, the more accurately we can price an oven/furnace with the most economical heating media for you to run.

Do you have a budget in mind?

Although it can be tempting to keep your budget to yourself, it is best to let us know what parameters you are working within so that we can work to come up with a realistic offer that fulfils your requirements.

Once we know all your requirements, we will work with you to offer you a product that suits your application AND your budget.

Eurotherm Programmable controllers allow you to control temperature and process time along with a host of other process variables which allow you to leave the oven running, knowing it will safely shut off when the process is finished.

Features:

A process timer allows you to set the process time and will then notify you via a light on the outside of the oven once the time is complete. (Note that a process timer will not shut the oven off once the time has finished).

Chart Recorders are used to monitor and record the oven processes. We offer various types of chart recorder as below:

Eurotherm 6100E

Features:

• Advanced data security and archiving
• 5.5″, 1/4 VGA, Colour touch screen display
• Designed for network and standalone use
• FTP client and server
• Live, remote data viewing and configuration
• 125ms parallel sampling

The unit is ideal for basic visualisation and recording requirements, bringing you all of the cost benefits, security and flexibility of secure electronic data files.

The 6100E has a full colour display and utilises touch screen technology for clear and intuitive configuration and operation. It further supports a USB port as standard to enable the use of a mouse, keyboard, or bar code scanner so that you can choose the interface method that is easiest for you.

With the 6100E your data is stored in check summed, binary compressed files to keep it secure.

The 6100E has additional features that adapt it to best fit your application requirements. The USB port can be used to support a removable memory stick for additional data storage local to the recorder or for additional operator interfaces to suit your data entry needs – bar code, keyboard, or mouse.

6100E provides an Ethernet port and supports Modbus TCP (slave) and FTP protocols. The recorder can easily be integrated into a larger system and data files can be transferred across the network. 

Support for relay outputs and configurable channels of Maths, Totalisers and Counters give you further flexibility to adapt the recorder to meet very specific application needs. Maths functions include add, subtract, multiply, divide, constant, group max, group average, channel min, channel max, channel average, rolling average and slaves comms. 

Eurotherm 6100A and 6180A 

Features:

• Secure data recording
• Full colour, high resolution, touch screen display
• Up to 48 universal input channels
• Batch functionality
• Remote viewing and configuration
• Full audit trail
• USB “Plug & Play”
• Local printing 

The 6180A offers unrivalled input accuracy with a 125ms total sample rate for up to 48 input channels. Input channels are freely configurable to suit your process requirements. Each instrument has a touch screen display to enable operators to view process data in varying formats.

Both have onboard Flash data storage capability, Ethernet communication and choice of Compact Flash or SD Card. Data is stored in a tamper resistant binary format that can be used for secure, long-term records of your process.

The 6000 Series HMI is easy and intuitive to use ensuring faster productivity and minimal learning requirements. It also incorporates a ‘Pop Up’ full ‘QWERTY’ keyboard to facilitate easy data or message entry. There are no complicated button presses, you can create your own operator buttons, anywhere on the display. Use of intuitive drop-down menus aid consistent navigation.

The 6000 Series can be accessed via a Local Area Network, dial-up connection, Intranet, or Internet.

 Your most asset is the data collected for process and legislation purposes. Protection includes Audit Trail for 21CFR Part 11 and Nadcap applications, with recorded login, use of unique usernames and passwords.

6180A Aerodaq

The 6180A Aerodaq comes with all the features of the 6180A along with the following;

The 6180 AeroDAQ provides thermocouple life monitoring functionality based on AMS2750G, Sections 3.1.5 and 3.1.5.3. Both thermocouple Uses and Days remaining are accounted for to help assure that thermocouples are not used beyond their maximum life as per AMS2750G.

Using a furnace when it has exceeded the allowable period for calibration, TUS (Thermal Uniformity Survey), or SAT (System Accuracy Test) can result in audit noncompliance, and monetary loss.

The 6180 AeroDAQ provides notification of due dates for:

• Calibration
• TUS
• SAT

The reporting package that accompanies the 6180 AeroDAQ provides a standard batch reporting functionality including: 

• Customer information
• Batch information
• Trending
• Alarm summary

Meets the following requirements of AMS2750E

• Section 3.1.5 (Load Sensors)
• Section 3.1.5.3 (The life of nonexpendable base metal load thermocouples)
• Section 3.2.5 (Instrument Calibration)
• Section 3.4.2 (SAT Frequency)
• Section 3.5.7 (TUS Frequency)
• Table 2 (Thermocouple Types)
• Section 3.2.3 and Table 3 (Field Test Instruments)
• Section 3.2.4 and Table 3 (Control, Monitoring or Recording Instruments)