AAGHHH! Another light blown

[Easter Bunny]

I have been using the power glo uv/heat bulbs. I've had my tortoises since April this year and this is my second bulb to blow, when they blow the fuse also blows in the holder. I'm so peed off :-( especially because I have paid £43 each for them.

What a time to blow when I've also got my new arrivals to setup and need to get a new bulb for Toby aswell. :-(

Anyone know of any decent priced uv/heat bulbs? Not solar glow though xxx

Thanks xx

[TillyTortoise]

Well I suggest the Arcadia D3 100w/160w.. May not be the cheapest but they have a 12 months guarantee.

100w - http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/arcadia-d3-uv-basking-lamp-100w.html

160w - http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/arcadia-d3-uv-basking-lamp-160w.html

[mrscross78]

I had 2 solar glo bulbs blow in a couple of months from another... I will not buy them again either!
I now use an Arcadia 100w, I also have an Arcadia 160 which I will use when it's colder.

[Easter Bunny]

What holder to use for the Arcadia bulbs? I have the exxo terra holders, wondering whether they would fit these holders xxx

[kreacher]

We have had nothing but problems with combined bulbs so now use a strip uv and a spot basking bulb...costs about £10 a year cheaper and don't have the worry they are going to blow all the time :)

[TillyTortoise]

What holder to use for the Arcadia bulbs? I have the exxo terra holders, wondering whether they would fit these holders xxx

I use the Arcadia holder.. Don't know if they fit the exo terra holders.. I think they only fit in the deep dome version of them?

[Easter Bunny]

Just spent £110 I haven't got on two bulbs, holder and stand. :grin:

Spose It could have been worse. I'm now going to have 2 decent Arcadia 160watt bulbs, large holder and stand for new arrivals :smile::smile:

Hope they're delivered soon Ronnie and Reggie are sitting under a 60 watt ordinary bulb at the moment :sad: They seem happy though :grin:

[TillyTortoise]

:).. Can't wait to see pictures of them when you get them :D

[Alan1]

What holder to use for the Arcadia bulbs? I have the exxo terra holders, wondering whether they would fit these holders xxx

Arcadia will recommend Arcadia ones but I use Exo terra large size which are 10 inches (25cm) wide and takes up to 200w (£16.74 from same place as above)

I have 160w bulbs

[Alan1]

Just spent £110 I haven't got on two bulbs, holder and stand. :grin:

Spose It could have been worse. I'm now going to have 2 decent Arcadia 160watt bulbs, large holder and stand for new arrivals :smile::smile:

Hope they're delivered soon Ronnie and Reggie are sitting under a 60 watt ordinary bulb at the moment :sad: They seem happy though :grin:

they will be okay as longs as they are getting nutrobal for vit D3 or from pellets if you use them

[Easter Bunny]

Actually, When I went to check on them, they are racing around the table going loopy :D first time in ages. They must be liking their 60 watt ordinary bulb :lol::lol:

[16 shells]

Spot bulb's do chuck some heat out if positioned right, have you checked the temp's around it, reakon you have.

[16 shells]

It may be worth plugging any combined into a surge protector lead, if they blow your own supply can be ruled out totaly, i think.

[EJ]

This is why I don't use that type bulb anymore. I bought 10 of a similar bulb the last time I used them. All 10 lasted less than a month.

Those new bulbs mentioned seems like the way to go but time will tell. Use that bulb with a ceramic emitter and I don't think you can go wrong.

Check this out if you haven't

http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=45829

The customer support seems to be beyond exceptional.

I have been using the power glo uv/heat bulbs. I've had my tortoises since April this year and this is my second bulb to blow, when they blow the fuse also blows in the holder. I'm so peed off :-( especially because I have paid £43 each for them.

What a time to blow when I've also got my new arrivals to setup and need to get a new bulb for Toby aswell. :-(

Anyone know of any decent priced uv/heat bulbs? Not solar glow though xxx

Thanks xx

[Easter Bunny]

I've emailed the manufacturer and told them how s..t their bulbs are and now my tortoises are sitting under a 60 watt bulb untill I get paid ( little white lie, cos I've orderd an arcadia, lol :lol:)

Lets see if they offer me anything, lol :lol:

[Alan1]

I had Solarglos oreiginally, first bulbs I had and went for a year, I think I still have one of them somewhere but the other one did blow. The ones they are producing now though seem to have a problem as too many people are having the same problem with them.

The UVB was really poor on the last two I tested, you'd probably get more UVB from a photograph of the sun

[Easter Bunny]

The UVB was really poor on the last two I tested, you'd probably get more UVB from a photograph of the sun[/QUOTE]

:lol::lol::lol: X

[EJ]

If you've been paying attention;)... The distributor of the Arcadia products has been surprisingly active on this and other herp forums... again... probably the best advertising he can pay for.

My guess is he's followed this thread already.

He has the cryptic name of Arcadiajohn.

The way he handled a similar problem with another member... I commend him on his attention to the customer... and... potential customer.

I've emailed the manufacturer and told them how s..t their bulbs are and now my tortoises are sitting under a 60 watt bulb untill I get paid ( little white lie, cos I've orderd an arcadia, lol :lol:)

Lets see if they offer me anything, lol :lol:

[Alan1]

Yeah but it's no different to those who are selling Mega-Ray on here or Pre Alpin or Tortoise tables etc and the customer service is great :)

.. plus the gear is very good both in the UVB levels it's still producing after more than a year and the durability not to mention the price :)

.. in fact it's a pity someone from Exo Terra wouldn't come on to explain themselves

[Easter Bunny]

Wish he'd send me a free one to try ;)

I will advertise for him if he does :lol::lol:

[TortBabe]

It may be worth plugging any combined into a surge protector lead, if they blow your own supply can be ruled out totaly, i think.

I had terrible problems with Solar Glo :evil: and when they blew they also took out my exo-terra ceramic heaters as well :( I use the Arcadia holders and combined lamps now, and in 6 months have not had 1 issue with them. I do as Paul suggested above and have them plugged into a surge protector extension lead, they're about £6 from Tesco :p

[Easter Bunny]

I had terrible problems with Solar Glo :evil: and when they blew they also took out my exo-terra ceramic heaters as well :( I use the Arcadia holders and combined lamps now, and in 6 months have not had 1 issue with them. I do as Paul suggested above and have them plugged into a surge protector extension lead, they're about £6 from Tesco :p

Why didn't you use your Exo Terra ceramic heater with the arcadia lamp?

I will definately get a surge protector, thanks xxx

[TortBabe]

Doh :D I meant to say when the bulbs blew they also blew the ceramic holders as well (not heaters!) So I decided to buy all arcadia this time, and have never had any bother at all :)

[LUVLEE]

sorry how do you test the UVB ? Ive been discarding the light on manufacturers instructions and replacing it

[Alan1]

sorry how do you test the UVB ? Ive been discarding the light on manufacturers instructions and replacing it

you need a solarmeter 6.2 which are now around £160

[Alan1]

£145 from Darren http://www.inkaproducts.co.uk/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=solarmeter+6.2&osCsid=30571c1268996713a55228482c6d7f36&x=4&y=10

[Easter Bunny]

Doh :D I meant to say when the bulbs blew they also blew the ceramic holders as well (not heaters!) So I decided to buy all arcadia this time, and have never had any bother at all :)

My ceramic holders blew aswell but I just changed the fuse so they are ok now. If you've still got them just replace the fuse in the plug, :)

[LUVLEE]

Ok thanks guess its cheaper to continue doing what im doing

[TillyTortoise]

Ok thanks guess its cheaper to continue doing what im doing

Cheaper if you have only say 1 or 2 UV bulbs running then yes. Anymore then it would be worth investing in one :).

[Alan1]

It's not so much the price but the fact that you can tell if your bulb is actually a dud. I bought a Solarglo to test alongside an Arcadia but the brand new Solarglo was only producing something like 30 uw/cm2 whereas the Arcadia was 182 uw/cm2. I complained that the bulb was in fact no good (you should think about replacing when it gets down to about 70 or 60) and was sent a replacement which was only producing 50 uw/cm2 and dropped down to 20uw/cm2 within a week or so. Anyone buying those 2 bulbs and running them would in fact be no better off than having a £1 spot bulb from Asda

[Easter Bunny]

:smile:I'm never using solarglo c..p again

[TortBabe]

My ceramic holders blew aswell but I just changed the fuse so they are ok now. If you've still got them just replace the fuse in the plug, :)

I did change the fuse they were dead as a doormat Lynne :evil: So they went in the bin, I'd never buy exo terra again :(

[Arcadiajohn]

Hello one and all, I do indeed follow lighting threads when I get five mins.

M.V lamps are a fickle beast. They are hand made to start with and everyone will be slightly different.

We actually spent 8 years on R and D with our offering, far too long really but we have had very few problems with it, stable UV output over a long period and very few failures. They also have a very wide area of emission for a M.V lamp of around 50 degrees

The Arcadia lamps is also guaranteed for one whole year, no quibble.this protects the consumer from those niggly issues.

They will run on any E27 fitting that is rated accordingly. Personally as you know we don't believe that in many cases the use of a single M.V lamp is providing enough energy to properly provide a photo gradient. We recommend the use of the high output T5 system to generate a decent area of exposure across roughly two thirds of the living space and then use the M,V to provide a strong hot spot.

Always willing to advise

John.

[Pussygalore]

I must be the exception I've never had trouble with the solarglow and replace them every 6 months or so with the old ones going to the outside torts, I do use a ceramic that will take much more than the bulb wattage and make sure they are hung vertically and have plenty of air. I've just brought a arcadia for Bolder and its definately brighter than the solar glow but as I feed pellets as well as greenery I've never been too worried about the uv output, besides each new batch of hatchling has a new bulb and are usually gone well within the 6 months. I've used my lights on a timer and manually switching them on/off, I don't touch/fiddle with them and the room is warm,I don't know whether the room temp makes a difference but my tort room doesn't get very cold even at night. Anyway I have lots of old bulbs that are still good for heat/light just no good for uv, they certainly haven't blown.

[Alan1]

I think I've only ever had three bulbs that have blown. One Megaray that blew the first time I put it on, one Solarglo that blew after about a year and another Megaray that blew after about 10 months or something so apart from that first one, nothing out of the ordinary really.

I think sometimes bulbs may not be getting a good contact with the holder and as an electrician said in one thread, the electricity jumps the gap between the bulb contact point and copper contact in the holder making it more liable to blow. Levering the copper contact up slightly can help. SWITCH OFF AND UNPLUG FIRST :shock:

[EJ]

Once again... the MVB are extremely sensitive to power surges. They do not tolerate variences in power. If the surge is too extreme... they cut out or blow out. This is why I'm interested in the fluorescent type UV lights and suggest others look into the same.

[Easter Bunny]

I got an email back fro Exo-Terra and they will be willing to replace the bulb free of charge if I send it back to them, What a nice gesture :-)

I'll keep it as a spare because I'm going onto Arcadia now xxx