# Heat globes keep blowing - why?



## Shaitan (Sep 5, 2008)

Hi all,

I'm starting to get pretty narky at the moment, I have one viv for one carpet python I have, and heat globes keep blowing.

Cage is approx 1500mm high, 1000mm wide and 500mm deep. Glass fronted, wire backed with mdf covers to keep heat in. Ceramic heat lamp was located in the top right of cage, but blew after about 6 months. Got another one, and then house electricity kept going out. Turned out the heat melted the wires and was short circuting the house. Moved the lamp to a side position (still at the top right of the cage) and snake still had a basking position. Then the lamp blew again after several months. So I decided to try infra red heating a coupla weeks ago, and that one blew on the weekend. The heat is on 24/7 usually, and I cant think of anything else to lock heat in the cage. When the lamp is on, temp is usually mid 30's at the top and low 20's at the bottom. 

Help! I don't have money to throw around, but is it time to get a new viv or new thermostat or something? Is there a way to test that my thermostat isn't pulsing or something and ruining my globes?

*runs around tearing hair out*


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## callith (Sep 5, 2008)

no idea sorry, but could it be the way the fitting is wired, being a wire may be touching somehing it shouldn't be and causing it to short or something like that which could also explain the house short circuting??


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## Shaitan (Sep 5, 2008)

House doesn't short circuit since I got the wiring changed - and it was only doing that coz the wiring was melted (from the heat lamp itself?)

All wiring done by electrician, not a home jobbie..


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## callith (Sep 5, 2008)

hmmm, ok, no idea then, are the globes ceramic or incardescent (sorry if its spelt wrong)


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## Kathryn_ (Sep 5, 2008)

What's the wattage on the globe, and what's the maximum wattage on the fitting? I *think* if the globe places too high a demand on the fitting it'll blow the globe. Also, is the fitting ceramic? If not you'll just be melting bits of it, you *need* a ceramic fitting for a ceramic element. This is totally second hand info from the guys that sold me my stuff, by the way, and I could have misinterpretted them. It's probably best you just call a sparky before you run out and spend money on new fittings / globes.


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## Shaitan (Sep 5, 2008)

I used to use ceramic, now I'm trying infrared.

.

I can't remember the wattage of the ceramic globes that blew, but I did have a ceramic fitting.

The infrared globe is 100w.

The fitting didn't specify a max wattage.


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## Renagade (Sep 5, 2008)

Kathryn_ said:


> What's the wattage on the globe, and what's the maximum wattage on the fitting? I *think* if the globe places too high a demand on the fitting it'll blow the globe. Also, is the fitting ceramic? If not you'll just be melting bits of it, you *need* a ceramic fitting for a ceramic element. This is totally second hand info from the guys that sold me my stuff, by the way, and I could have misinterpretted them. It's probably best you just call a sparky before you run out and spend money on new fittings / globes.


 
mmm... not entirely true on your *think.* IF the current outrated the fitting rating, it would just melt. it would take out your breaker or fuse in your meterbox before blowing the filiment.What was true is that you def. need a ceramic fitting if your lamp is over 60watts. i shouldnt encorage this, but they are dead easy to wire up.
ren


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## Stitched (Sep 5, 2008)

It is most likely to be crappy globes, and very unlikely that the thermostat is causing the problem. You can test them accurately, however it is expensive and a waste of money. Put a standard 60w globe in with the thermostat, if you can see any change in light levels, then it may be your thermostat (very unlikely)

Blowing a 100w globe will not draw enough fault current to blow the fuses or trip a circuit breaker. If it is not tripping an RCD (safety switch), then you can rule out faulty wiring in the fitting or thermostat. ***I only state that as you have had your house rewired recently.

I use infrared globes myself, and unfortunately it is just one of those things. Many reptile shops offer a one or two week guarantee on globes.


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## [email protected] (Sep 5, 2008)

*hi*

From now on i have been buying globes from pet stores that dont sell reptiles, funny thing is that the globes have been lasting longer then the ones from the shops with reptiles display'd. cause the globes are so expensive and the shops cant affored to have reptiles for sale loosing money for the cost of husbandry of there collection and they cut down the price of housing by using the globes for half the life then place them back in box for sale, (Not all shops) but i have had lights in the past that looked to be used (seconds)...........
I have a shop that i go too now and i order mine in bulk and i get them cheeper. I thought when the globes were blowing that is was my wired light fittings leads etc. haven't had a problem since.


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## redbellybite (Sep 5, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> From now on i have been buying globes from pet stores that dont sell reptiles, funny thing is that the globes have been lasting longer then the ones from the shops with reptiles display'd. cause the globes are so expensive and the shops cant affored to have reptiles for sale loosing money for the cost of husbandry of there collection and they cut down the price of housing by using the globes for half the life then place them back in box for sale, (Not all shops) but i have had lights in the past that looked to be used (seconds)...........
> I have a shop that i go too now and i order mine in bulk and i get them cheeper. I thought when the globes were blowing that is was my wired light fittings leads etc. haven't had a problem since.


 you know your probably dead right there about some petshops.........:evil:never even crossed my mind but now .......mmmmmmmm .....


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## Sel (Sep 5, 2008)

Do you use gloves when you handle the globes? 
I use infared globes and was told never to touch them with my hands,always use gloves. Something to do with the oil in your skin, will make the globe blow...


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## falconboy (Sep 5, 2008)

Shaitan said:


> Is there a way to test that my thermostat isn't pulsing or something



Pulsing? Are you using a pulse thermostat with light emitting globes? That would be one problem, you need a dimming thermostat, not a pulsing. Pulsing is ok for the ceramic though. What sort of thermostat is it?

And for safetys sake I hope you aren't using a plastic light fitting.


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## -Peter (Sep 5, 2008)

Simple, globes state they are 240 v but in reality they are probably anywhere between 210 and 260 but generally on the lower end. Having lower resistance they blow quicker. I have dimmer boxes on my incandescent globes.
I think I got that right. I'm sure an electrician will put me right.


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## hugsta (Sep 5, 2008)

MzSel said:


> Do you use gloves when you handle the globes?
> I use infared globes and was told never to touch them with my hands,always use gloves. Something to do with the oil in your skin, will make the globe blow...


 
The oil on your skin creates hot spots on the globe which shortens its life. However this is normally applicable to halogen bulbs rather than incandescent ones.

If you are using infra reds on the wrong type of thermostat then it will shorten the lifespan of the globe. You should use a dimming thermostat as mentioned previously and not an on/off or pulse proportionate type. However, any can be used with ceramics and they should last you a long time. The shortest I have had a ceramic for is 9 months and the longest was 4 1/2 yrs. Average seems to be around 2yrs give or take.

Is there any chance of getting some pics of your setup and the thermostat you use. It may be easier to help you.

Cheers
Daz


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## TheBoga (Sep 5, 2008)

Kathryn_ said:


> Also, is the fitting ceramic? If not you'll just be melting bits of it, you *need* a ceramic fitting for a ceramic element.



Yeah, I don't think you mentioned if the fitting was ceramic, even certain watt spotlight globes should be in a ceramic fitting, they generate a lot of heat. As others mentioned plastic fitting are no good. The wires coming out of a ceramic fitting need to be positioned away from the fitting and from the rising heat also.

My red reptile globes blow occasionally, one blew after three weeks others are still going after months and months so far, for my basking/bright light I just use regular small spot globes, straight from the hardware store, half as expensive as pet store "reptile" globes.


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## herptrader (Sep 5, 2008)

It is not unknown for some mains electricity to be a bit "dirty" with spikes etc. If this were the case you might expect other (incandescent) globes in the house to fail also assuming they have a similar duty cycle etc. If this is the case a mains filtering power board (usually sold for computers) might help a bit

Picking up on what others have said globes run though a dimming thermostat such that they are rarely or never run flat out should last a long time.


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## jessb (Sep 5, 2008)

Sorry to hijack here, but it is mostly on topic! We are about to switch to ceramic lamps from a heat mat. We currently use an on/off thermostat, will this work with ceramics?


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## herptrader (Sep 5, 2008)

jessb said:


> Sorry to hijack here, but it is mostly on topic! We are about to switch to ceramic lamps from a heat mat. We currently use an on/off thermostat, will this work with ceramics?



To me this seems like a backwards step.

Your basic on/off thermostat should work fine with a ceramic heat emitter though a pulse proportional should work better.

If the reason for the switch is provide heat from above you may wish to consider a radiant heat panel which has advantages in terms of wiring, not requiring a protective cage etc.

Personally I use heat mats/tape to set the night time lows and have a basking spot on a timer for daytime highs. On the basking spot I just adjust the wattage so it is about right.


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## Christopher51383 (Sep 5, 2008)

buy yourself a heatmat


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## Renagade (Sep 5, 2008)

herptrader said:


> It is not unknown for some mains electricity to be a bit "dirty" with spikes etc. If this were the case you might expect other (incandescent) globes in the house to fail also assuming they have a similar duty cycle etc. If this is the case a mains filtering power board (usually sold for computers) might help a bit
> 
> Picking up on what others have said globes run though a dimming thermostat such that they are rarely or never run flat out should last a long time.


 
yes that is true in a way, when you put a voltage throught a fillament, it jumps. that is why a pulse thermostat is no good for an incandesent lamp, in saying that tho, there are some low levels where the fillament will quiver, usually this is because the dimmer is putting out such a low level it fluctuates. To fix this you will need to add what is called a dummy load to level it out. a dummy load is just another dimmable light that will draw more current. Also as mentioned earlier, you should never leave finger prints on a glass lamp.
ren


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## southy (Sep 5, 2008)

are you blowing other lights in your house a little more than you think? if your house is in an area thats supply voltage is too high, your lights will glow a litter brighter but will blow quicker. you only need a few volts more or less than the nominal 230V(but we usually operate on 240V) supply which will affect your globes life. if you really want to know a 5% increase in your voltage will reduce your lamp life by 50% but a 5% decrease in voltage doubles your globe life for incandescent lamps anyway. and if you have poor ventalation or too high a power rating for which the fitting was intended causes the globe to become too hot will also reduce the life of the globe.


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## Shaitan (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks all for your replies!

I do have a ceramic fitting, I already said that.

I have an on/off thermostat - I didn't know I could get anything else? There was nothing else on offer when I bought it at the pet shop and the dude selling it to me never said a word about different thermostats. Where would I be able to look at/purchase a dimming thermostat?

The other lights in the house don't blow often.

I also have a heat mat at the bottom of the cage on a timer rather than a thermostat.

I just replaced the globe yesterday with a new infrared one - we'll see how long this one lasts... AFAIK, you can use bare hands to handle 'normal' globes, but halogens (headlights) are the ones you can't touch.


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## Renagade (Sep 7, 2008)

Shaitan said:


> Thanks all for your replies!
> 
> 
> 
> I just replaced the globe yesterday with a new infrared one - we'll see how long this one lasts... AFAIK, you can use bare hands to handle 'normal' globes, but halogens (headlights) are the ones you can't touch.


 
that just depends on how hot the glass gets. i do lighting for entertainment. NEVER touch the globes.


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## hallie (Sep 7, 2008)

-Peter said:


> Simple, globes state they are 240 v but in reality they are probably anywhere between 210 and 260 but generally on the lower end. Having lower resistance they blow quicker. I have dimmer boxes on my incandescent globes.
> I think I got that right. I'm sure an electrician will put me right.


 
Correct, using a dimmer in circuit keeps the voltage at a constant level without fluctuations..

Therfore will extend the life of lamps...


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## Moreliavridis (Sep 8, 2008)

if you use a dummie globe it has to be connected in series before the other globe but it also has to be a higher wattage. like every one else has said never touch your globes any real globe doesnt matter if it halogen or incandesent cause they all create heat spots. also it sounds like the globe may also be pulling to much current through the fitting. you can get dimming thermostats from the herp shop.


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## johnnyeggbeater (May 27, 2009)

*Globes*

Having managed a pet store for a few years, theres afew simply things to look at, 1. wattage of the fitting vs globe, 2. quality/brand of globe. The manufacturers generly give a 1 or 2 week warranty as how do you know how long a light bulb will last. 

I have put a reptapets fitting in with my frill neck cage that has a maximum of 100 watt globe, it can handle a 100watt globe and keeps cutting out.

URS ceramic fittings (the big purplie black ones) on a couple of lizaards i got and they have been there for 12 months. 

I guess you hope to get 12 months out of light bulbs, how ever having been selling them in the past your lucky to get 6months. I don't know if they are manufactured to do this for "turn over" or if its just poor manufacturing, 
One company did change where they got their bulbs manufactured for a short time but had a MASSIVE fail rate and went back to their orig. manufacturers. 

Sorry if this makes no sense, i was onlu getting between 4 and 12 weeks a bulb at one stage, when you got 6 of them, its not cheap.

Hope this helps??

Chris.


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## johnnyeggbeater (May 27, 2009)

****can't handle 100watt globe***


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## Chris1 (May 27, 2009)

some globes are just crap.

i generally get 15 globes at a time from herp shop and sometimes i'll go thru the whole lot in 2 weeks or less (very annoying at 8.50 a globe), sometimes they last 2-3 months each,...luck of the draw, thats why im changing over to heat panels,...


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## Ozzie Python (May 27, 2009)

i run 50w exoterra infra reds in most my tanks with a dimming stat and i very rarely blow a bulb, most last somewhere btween 9 to 12 months. I have had one run over 12 months and only blew recently when i setup timers for cooling.

not sure how other brands stand up the test of time but i have never had an issue since changing from on/off stats to dimmers.


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