Ceramic heat light, newbie HELP

[Squasset]

Hello Reptile people,

I am the proud new owner of a little childreni python. I have had her for about two months, she's growing beautifully, eating beautifully and altogether a fabulous addition to our family. In the last two weeks we have moved her into a samburra 3ft enclosure and aside from a few teething issues with her squeezing out BETWEEN THE PANELS OF GLASS DESPITE HER SIZE things have been going well. I have a Reptile one 150 watt ceramic heat lamp on a thermostat which has been efficiently heating to the required temperature and cutting off when appropriate for the last two weeks. Last night, the alarm told us that the temperature had dropped below the low point for the first time. It was about 20 degrees in the house and the alarm went off at 27. This sudden change has meant that the heat is still be emitted but not as efficiently. Our weather has been largely the same and the ambient temperature not fluctuated greatly. I have just had THE most frustrating conversation with the pet shop manager that I purchased the bulb off who got so hung up about it making 29 degrees during the day and that that was completely acceptable ( which it obviously is) that he failed to comprehend that this was not the point. The point is that the ceramic light has been trying ALL day to get it there, where yesterday it would get to 30/31 in half an hour.
SO a long winded way of saying, is it possible, from your experience, to have a ceramic heat light heating but still faulty? and also, is this a product of the TYPE/BRAND or is this just a fluke? as you can imagine, I'm not keen to shell out the cash if its going to continue to occur. The manager eventually conceded that if the heat lamp couldn't reach the temperature WITHOUT the thermostat that there MAY be a problem, given this was the same guy who was saying that the 150 watt was TOO strong for the enclosure when I replaced my 100 watt for the same reason, Im not feeling very confident about his advice.
This is my first post, I know it's long winded, but I would appreciate any advice in relation to this issue. My little baby is in shed, which is a first time for me, and that's stressful enough as is!!! (FOR ME AND HER!!!!)
Also, just for information sake, we also have a thermometer that is measuring in addition to the thermostat probe.
So far with the heat light plugged directly into the wall (and no thermostat) and the lamp non stop heating it is around 27.6 degrees and has not exceeded this temp.
HELP ME !!
Thanks

 

[Ramsayi]

o is it possible, from your experience, to have a ceramic heat light heating but still faulty?

No the lamp will either work or it wont.

Can you post a pic of your setup?
What are the room temps getting up to of a day and down to of a night?

 

[Squasset]

Yep, I'll send a photo through later tonight.
It is currently 28 degrees inside the house. The heat lamp is on (you can feel the heat on the top of the enclosure) the probe is reading 29.7 and has not exceeded this all day.
It's been a hot day here and not been below 25 inside.
Doesn't make sense to me given before we could open the enclosure and it could go to room temperature (low 20s)to 31 in half an hour ?!?!?!

 

[littlemay]

How far away is the area you are trying to heat from the CHE and where is the thermostat probe located?

Also, what kind of thermostat are you using and what kind of thermometer are you using to take temps. I'm honestly finding it a little hard to believe that a 150 watt heat emitter would only give you 27 off thermostat. My 60 watt emitter will easily soar into the upper 40's (about 15-20cm away) if unregualted

 

[JAS101]

what kind/ brand of thermostat is it ?
have your tried to by pass the thermostat to see if it will get back up to the normal heating temp ?

 

[Squasset]

Exactly! particularly given up until YESTERDAY it was easily getting to 30 and then shutting off until it needed to start heating again. It was working like a dream up until last night.. perfectly regulated.
The thermostat is eco tech and the thermometer brand is reptile one.

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Yep jas, we have plugged it into the power and bypassed the thermostat and the temperature probes are showing 29.7 (thermostat probe) and 30.7 (thermometer) with non stop heating .

note: I know that these temps are high but that is because the room is also warm.. the point is, that up until yesterday it was getting up to 31 easily (by the thermostat probe ) and shutting off

 

[86JAP]

That size CHE should be overkill for a 3ft enclosure. I have a 100 watt CHE heating the top of my 6ft vertical enclosure and it is enough to give an ambient air temp of 32 deg and a basking spot of 34 deg 200mm below it (thermostat probe is suspended level with the bottom of the CHE and about 100mm away from it).

It is possible for the CHE to heat only a little but not to its full capacity if there is an internal fault within, it is after all just a smaller version of what you find on stove tops.

 

[littlemay]

How far away is the heat emitter from the area where you are taking temps? Is the thermometer an infrared, digital or analogue one?

 

[Ramsayi]

A pic of the setup will give a much better idea as to what is going on rather than trying to glean info from your posts.My guess though is that the enclosure probably have a heap of ventilation so the heat from the lamp is going straight up and out of the enclosure.

 

[Squasset]

View attachment 307579View attachment 307580

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Hi everyone,
Can I just clarify:

This has only been an issue since LAST night.
The heating has been effective, consistent and totally fine up until then.
The question here is about the globe. There has to have been a change between yesterday and today, I suspect that it is possible for a globe to heat only partially and this is what I'm curious about.

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this is what I suspected, however the 100 watt CHE didn't get the temp high enough.. the 150 worked fine for the first two weeks, the change occurred last night. Thermostat and thermometer probe is just behind her hide.

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A pic of the setup will give a much better idea as to what is going on rather than trying to glean info from your posts.My guess though is that the enclosure probably have a heap of ventilation so the heat from the lamp is going straight up and out of the enclosure.

Did those attachments work?

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How far away is the heat emitter from the area where you are taking temps? Is the thermometer an infrared, digital or analogue one?

thermometer is digital

 

[86JAP]

Attachments didn't work..

 

[jacevy]

Go in to "go advanced" to more easily post your attachments.

 

[Squasset]

Ok, how about this?
So sorry guys, not only am I new to this forum, but I'm new to forums in general..
the che is on the right (or your left)
Her hide is the white ceramic head thing on the left (under the CHE)
and the thermometer probe is slightly behind, lying on the ground

 

[86JAP]

I have read some peoples experience with the 'bulb' style heat emitters retaining alot of heat inside them and malfunctioning. I opted for the flat 'disc' style in my enclosure.

 

[Squasset]

I have read some peoples experience with the 'bulb' style heat emitters retaining alot of heat inside them and malfunctioning. I opted for the flat 'disc' style in my enclosure.

I've just found what you mean, i'll have a look into them, thanks


does anyone find all of this kind of odd? for such an expensive bulb?

 

[86JAP]

If you look at the bottom of the bulb you should see the lines of the element in it. From what I have read the people having trouble with them suspected there was alot of heat being held in the hollow part in the centre. The disc style have a much smaller cavity in them. Mine is a $15 job from eBay and has been flawless so far.

While maintaining the ambient temperature at 32 I can still touch the cage with my 100 watt however if I was to plug it directly into a power point I would be burnt from the cage!

 

[Squasset]

Could it be the ceramic socket that the bulb is screwed into?
We are struggling to work out how to prove to the manager that this globe might be faulty, given it's so expensive.

 

[86JAP]

Yes possibly, when I got mine I pulled it apart to install in the enclosure (I am an electrician) and when I removed the wires from the fitting the screws were done up onto the insulation of the wire not the copper so had I used it straight out of the box it may not have worked properly.

 

[Bart70]

Have you proven that the thermostat is not the problem?....I had a scan through your posts and unless I missed it I cannot see where you have plugged the heat lamp in without the thermostat to see that the lamp is actually heating up to full capacity or not when the thermostat is not connected.

Those thermostats are not the most reliable bit of gear around....I have several and had failures, as have others (the Eco-Tech is a rebadged Jet-005) - I won't be buying more and am slowly removing mine from service. I don' trust them from mine and others experiences.

I suggest running the CHE without the thermostat to determine if it is heating slow without it. If it gets hot quick the problem is in your thermostat or possibly wiring (bad connection etc....) but less likely given it has been working fine. These thermo's have a history of 'locking on' at different levels of heating....It may have decided to 'lock' at half power and is not regulating properly.

Another quick test might be to put in a 40w light glow and see if it give the globe full power (ie - brightness) - this should indicate that it can at least apply full power to the globe when the temp drop calls for it (and should be doing the same with your CHE). From my experience these thermos will give full power to the globe once the temp drops 3-4 degrees below the set temp so this should be a good indicator.

I have never seen a CHE 'part' work....They either work or fail in much the same way that a light globe rarely 'part' works...they either work or are blown. Also, from my experience I have found no difference in performance between a $15 emitter and a $40 emitter - save some $$ and buy the cheaper ones, and keep one or two spare for these situations where you can throw another one in as part of your fault finding process.

 

[Squasset]

Thanks 86JAP I've found some of the globes you're talking about and have ordered them.

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Bart70 yes we have, we have plugged it directly into the power and it was exactly the same. It still heats, but not as effectively as it was. For example, in the past on the occasions when the enclosure had been opened to clean or whatever and had cooled right down, the CHE could get it up to 30's in next to no time and then the thermostat would regulate it, now it is constantly heating (not connected to the thermostat) and it is just managing 26-27 at night and 29 during the day. I'm aware that the temps are ok, which is why I'm not in a flap about it, but this is primarily because it is pretty warm here (high 20's) so essentially the light is only heating by a few degrees...
Thanks for the heads up though on the thermostat, I suppose i'll keep using it until it starts giving me problems.
Yep, will test out socket too.
And definitely going for the cheaper ebay globes after this experience
Thanks everyone for your help.