# Broken Heat Lamp! Any help?



## otisthetortoise (Feb 16, 2017)

Hello, long time no see. Sorry for the shabbily associated thread topic, I was in a rush to make this particular thread.
This morning I awoke to see the UVB lamp and heat lamp (which are both on timers, 8.30am-8.30pm) and did my daily scan to see how Otis was doing.
This was interrupted when I realised her UVB lamp was on as normal, but the heat lamp off. After inspection, I saw the bulb was blew. It's an 60w ProRep spot lamp. I've been looking into getting a Mercury Vapor combined lamp for some time and this secures it, having been our second problem with these types of bulbs.
I have a 40W of the same bulb for emergencies, so I screwed one in this morning, only to see that it isn't turning on. I may have screwed it in wrong or missed a step concerning connection, but nevertheless I have now resorted to keeping the room nice and toasty, giving her a warm bath, and praying someone on here has much more experience and brains for it than me.

I should be able to buy a bulb this afternoon if all else fails, (the Mercury Vapors are only available online here), but I'd prefer not to be out of pocket if only replacing with a Merc shortly after. The pet shops here are kings of mistakenly selling products and overpricing the ones they do.

Here are some pictures regarding the bulb and the coned lamp connector.
Any advice on what I should do in methods of heat, methods of connection, future bulbs? Primarily what I'm doing wrong in connecting this new 40W bulb  if any other pictures are needed let me know.
Thanks,
Olivia

P.S Otis is fine and very much unperturbed!


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 16, 2017)

The lamp connections don't look burned. I know that sometimes the threaded portion will get unseated and spin with the bulb when you try to unscrew it. In that case, there could be a loose or broken connection within the lamp housing itself. 
If there is any doubt that the housing is damaged, I would throw it away. 
When you place your new bulb inside, do it with the fixture unplugged and check to see if there is anything moving in the socket or the base. If anything at all moves, throw it away and replace it.


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## Tom (Feb 16, 2017)

Incandescent bulbs burn out. Its just their nature. You need to keep spares on hand just for this reason. MVBs burn out too.

There is no need to spend all that money buying bulbs that are packaged for reptiles, and "spot" lamps are not a good idea because they concentrate too much carapace desiccating heat into too small of an area. I use 65 watt incandescent flood bulbs from the hardware store. I buy them in 6 or 12 packs for about $1 a bulb. When one burns out, I simply replace it.

Find a lamp in your house that is on and working. Unscrew that bulb and screw that new bulb into the same socket to test the bulb. This will tell you if its the bulb or not. Occasionally a brand new bulb will have a broken filament or some sort of defect and not work.


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## Markw84 (Feb 16, 2017)

I have about a dozen of those fixtures (US 110 volt version) that I've acquired over the years. I don't buy them any more. About 1/2 of them don't work. Not sure what it is, but they just stop working as yours has. Sometimes just screwing in a bulb too tight can do it. So it may well be your fixture, not the new bulb. I also totally agree with Tom on the spot vs flood. Since you already have a separate UVB set up, all you need is a regular incandescent flood bulb. Much less expensive than reptile. I get 6 packs and always have spares on hand. Besides, a MVB is very expensive, and they really do stop giving out good UVB fairly quickly and need to be replaced - probably every 6-8 months. That makes them even more expensive. I'd stay with the setup similar to what you have. UVB plus incandescent flood.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 16, 2017)

And in the meantime, until you can get your new bulb up and running, just put in a regular, old fashioned incandescent 100 watt bulb for heat. No sense in heating the whole room.


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