Is my CHE working?

[Gennifer11]

I bought a standard 100w CHE light off of amazon, it doesn't seem to be working. At 7.5" it's only at 76.5°. the red bulb it will replace is a good 90° at that distance. So I'm wondering if the CHEs just don't put off as mu cb heat as I thought?

 

[jaizei]

If you place your hand near it can you feel any heat?

 

[Gennifer11]

Yeah a little bit, do they take a long time to heat up maybe?

 

[jaizei]

After a few minutes they should be warmed up.

Are you using a reflector?
Using a rheostat/thermostat?

 

[Gennifer11]

Just the standard domes.

 

[Dizisdalife]

You CHE may be defective, or the spread pattern of the bulb may be much narrower than the CHE. If that is the case the red bulb would produce a higher temp on the ground at the same height. Here is a link to an article that watts, heat, and light. Hope it helps you. http://www.reptileuvinfo.com/html/watts-heat-lights-lamp-heat-output.html

 

[Gennifer11]

I got my second CHE in the mail. I'm very disappointed...this one is a black one. I can't get either of the bulbs to go over 80°. At 6" above the substrate the black one is 80.4 and my regular CHE is only 79.3 at 8". Are all CHEs this terrible? I don't know where to go from here

 

[HLogic]

What substrate are you using? CHE's and incandescent light bulbs generate different UV spectra. Try putting something dark colored under the CHE, give it sufficient time to warm and check the temp. If you have a light colored or low density substrate it may not get as warm as you might expect. The tort, especially if darker colored, may warm much more than the substrate.

 

[Yvonne G]

You will actually burn your finger when you touch a CHE that has been turned on for any length of time. If the CHE is hot enough to burn you, but you're not getting heat down at ground level, lower the fixture.

 

[Tom]

Something is wrong here. At 6" away a 100 watt CHE is probably hot enough to make wood smolder. How are you measuring the temperature? Does that fixture have an in-line rheostat that might have been turned down?

 

[HLogic]

You might also try plugging it into another outlet.

 

[Loohan]

Probably defective. One CHE i ordered was DOA. And quickly replaced by the vendor.

 

[Gennifer11]

My substrate is coconut chips, and they are hot enough for my to barely touch them before it burns. I'm using a thermostat with a probe, it's been accurate so far.
I would be fine lowering the bulbs but 5" is too low, it will be touching my plants

 

[cmacusa3]

Do you have an open chamber enclosure? 5" is not safe. Mine is 12 inches above and keeps my entire enclosure 80 all night.

 

[Tom]

My substrate is coconut chips, and they are hot enough for my to barely touch them before it burns. I'm using a thermostat with a probe, it's been accurate so far.
I would be fine lowering the bulbs but 5" is too low, it will be touching my plants

So the substrate is so hot you can barely touch it, but your thermometer reads 80... And you conclude the CHE is defective?

It seems like the cold room air is affecting your thermostats probe and making the CHE stay on all the time. I think you need to raise that CHE fixture higher up before it starts a fire or burns your tortoise. It should never be hotter than 95-100 directly under the CHE. If your enclosure has an open top and your CHE is far away from the probe, it will not be effective. You need a closed chamber or more CHEs spread out across the enclosure which will dry things out tremendously.

 

[leigti]

A temperature gun is very handy to check out temps, you can even see how hot your tortoises top shell is.

 

[keepergale]

So the substrate is so hot you can barely touch it, but your thermometer reads 80... And you conclude the CHE is defective?.

Ha Ha LMAO

 

[Gennifer11]

Obviously my substrate isn't on fire. I meant the bulbs are hot to the touch....

I have a closed enclosure.

I only had the bulbs close to the ground for testing. To see when I would hit 80. No burned torts here.

I do like the temp guns, I've already put it on my shopping list for this weekend. So far this probe thermostat seems to be accurate so I'm not worried about my temps being incorrect.

I bought these CHEs on amazon and they ended up coming from China, one with a brand name that didn't match what I paid for and another just came in a white box with no labels anywhere. So maybe I just didn't get good quality ones? Not sure. I've contacted the sellers and I was able to get a refund for one of them. The other seller is being a little difficult.

 

[leigti]

Sounds like defective equipment. I hope you can get your money back from both of them.

 

[tortdad]

Have you tried switching them into a different dome fixture?

It sounds like you got some cheap-o ones.

I have ZooMed CHE's and after about 45 seconds it's hot enough that I can't touch it without burning myself.