Combined lighting.

[Alan1]

Originally Posted by Levi

No need to panic as long as they have heat and light.

I don't actually need the £6.98 bulb as I have old MV's lying around but for a new keeper who may not have a spare lying about you can't go wrong for £6.98. Sometimes stuff takes 5 days to arrive depending where you get it from and though the torts would be fine in that time, one of these would give heat and light.. but then so would a spot bulb. Handy for outside these ones though

[Pussygalore]

if your bulb has blown then they wouldn't have heat or light would they that's the whole point of having the bulb, many owners who's bulb goes and don't have a spare are up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Alan's link to the B&Q one is a good idea for a spare but you'd still want it there not everyone has the time to suddenly rush off to the shops, so if the bulb blows on monday it could be the following weekend before the owner could get to the shops. There's no getting away from the fact that it pays to have a spare in the house.

[Levi]

Originally Posted by Pussygalore

I have never really had a problem with any of them blowing or at least not untill they are old and have used the solar glow and arcadia, one more thing it pays to have a spare one so I buy a spare whenever I can afford it. .

Glad you agree, you could always edit your original post above to say that a spare spot light or ceramic heater and CFL etc would do fine to supply heat and light until the replacement MVB comes in the post.
It is difficult to take full advantage of the warrantee that comes with these lamps if they stay in the box for months.

Edit: Alternatively if the current MV lamp is almost out of warrantee get a replacement and start using it straight away and then the old lamp can be used as a backup.

[Ozric Jonathan]

Originally Posted by caledonia

Are the mini's a smaller version of the current ones?

I'm sure arcadia have uses in mind for the mini mvb. Maybe it's inside a small vivarium or something like that. To my mind the 100 watt is barely enough for a small tortoise table.

[Arcadiajohn]

All will become clear! Suffice to say it falls in our goal of starting a "Revolution In Reptile Care"

Yes it's a much smaller lamp with many more targeted uses.

John

[StephenDawn]

well to all above for one we use 160w bulbs so thats not a factor, we dont mess around with the lamp because its on a timer thats not a factor, there is no thermostat we position the lamp further/nearer throughout the year if the temp ever drops/rises as we have a thermometer inside and always check temperature thats not a factor, and of course we did have a spare bulb but that wasnt the problem the problem was the lamp got destroyed by the bulb blowing, either way everythings sorted now, will definately be switching to arcadia bulbs when we next buy bulbs they just seem so much more cost effective to what has been said on here and they carry the 1 year warranty. Thanks all case closed.

[Arcadiajohn]

Hello,

One point that is starting to become clear to us is that the use of some timers can dramatically reduce the lifespan of some M.V lamps.

It would seem that mechanical timers with cheaper components do not deliver a clean, smooth current load. And can cause a dramatic spike of energy at start up. It seems that in some cases particully with those lamps that may use no so effective electronics and firing parts just can't handle the spike and it causes over wear in the arc tube.

Now this is only just starting to become clear to us!! So not proven.

I would be inclined to use a good timer maybe one with surge protection built in. It maybe worth paying a tenner for a timer that protects the lamps and saves us blowing up lamps one after the other than getting a pound shop one and potentailly reducing the lifespan of the lamps.

I hope to have more deffinate advice very soon for you all, until then I would keep the info in mind

John

Originally Posted by StephenDawn

well to all above for one we use 160w bulbs so thats not a factor, we dont mess around with the lamp because its on a timer thats not a factor, there is no thermostat we position the lamp further/nearer throughout the year if the temp ever drops/rises as we have a thermometer inside and always check temperature thats not a factor, and of course we did have a spare bulb but that wasnt the problem the problem was the lamp got destroyed by the bulb blowing, either way everythings sorted now, will definately be switching to arcadia bulbs when we next buy bulbs they just seem so much more cost effective to what has been said on here and they carry the 1 year warranty. Thanks all case closed.

[Taszia]

Originally Posted by caledonia

I have had 2 Arcadia 160w bulbs running for about 21 months and 18 months and not only have they not blown, they are still producing great levels of UVB. See here

I use this bulb and this holder and this stand

the bulbs have a 12 month guarantee.

If your bulbs are blowing then it could be that they are not getting a good connection - see here

This is what this person recommended for me when i started up and it's great

[Alan1]

I don't use a timer, maybe that's one reason why they have lasted so long

[StephenDawn]

hmm could be but our extension lead is surge protection one and certainly not cheap so surely that eliminates a surge through any appliance plugged into it?