Enclosure melamine heat

[jamesthegeek]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if I should have any concern regarding the temperature of my melamine enclosure.

I am running a 150w heat element inside an enclosure and the roof that the wiring runs through is rather hot to touch, is this normal? I have vents top and bottom of the enclosure for heat to get out, I think that the heat is being transferred by the cabling, is this okay or not?

Thanks in advance

James.

 

[Jungletrans]

lf the roof or power lead start to discolour then you have a heat problem . You can lower the wattage , lower the position of lamp down away from roof or [ my fav ] fit a heat shield between lamp and roof . l often use milo tin lids as they are effective and look good . Just unscrew lamp holder from roof , power unpluged of course , drill matching holes in tin lid and put it between lamp and roof .

 

[jamesthegeek]

Jungletrans: I have it unfitted at the moment, dangling by the cable around 20cm away from the roof. It's a herpshop black night so it's directional but the fitting is really warm (which is understandable) at full power (I am still building my enclosure currently).

 

[Jungletrans]

150 w is a lot for a small or med cage , unless you have a 6 footer l would drop it down to 100 or even 60 . Unless you have a dimmer thermostate [ the best as it will not get too hot ] the on off kind will be pumping out a full 150 w when it is on .

 

[hallie]

lf the roof or power lead start to discolour then you have a heat problem . You can lower the wattage , lower the position of lamp down away from roof or [ my fav ] fit a heat shield between lamp and roof . l often use milo tin lids as they are effective and look good . Just unscrew lamp holder from roof , power unpluged of course , drill matching holes in tin lid and put it between lamp and roof .

I hope your earthing the tin lid also if it is under the fitting where the terminals are..?

 

[jamesthegeek]

It will be on a dimming thermostat but until I am swapping over to it I only have the one thermostat. It's an upright enclosure for my jungle, internal dimensions are 420 x 1360mm.

 

[jamesthegeek]

More to the point, should I be worried that the melamine is hot to touch? I mean, it's not like "Oh damn, I burnt my hand" but it's hot enough to ask the question.