Why is my hood blowing bulbs?

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 3:41 pm

I have a 3 fixture hood, it holds two screw based bulbs and a fluorescent tube. Normal use is 1, sometimes 2 bulbs and rarely do I switch on the UVB tube. Both bulbs together don't exceed maximum watt and each bulb outlet can support up to 100w. I typically run 60-75w's in it.So why does the left side of it keep blowing bulbs? Sometimes they blow the second I turn it on, other times it's a few days or weeks later. These suckers are expensive and I'm getting angry about it because I can't afford to stock up on $8-9 bulbs and I can't afford to keep schlepping up to Petco.Does anyone have an idea why just one side might do this? Is repair possible?

saberkitty · Post by **saberkitty** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:12 pm

I was told that that little silver round piece can go bad and need replacing. Is that the balast? Our Petco sells them, you might try that. It should just turn and pop out.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:52 pm

CA, Joispa(petcoEmployee#1) has a few questions. Is the hood plugged into a surge protector? Did you buy the hood at Petco?

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:54 pm

Yes it's plugged into a surge and no, I bought it from ReptileSupply company. I've had it two years now, it's always been like this though sometimes the bulbs last months and other time I'm lucky if I get 5 minutes to a few days out of them.

lpshiner · Post by **lpshiner** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 3:51 am

I know that some of the bulb types arent' meant to be turned off and on very much- more meant to stay on all the time (I think I read that in this forum). Of course, that would not explain those that blow right after you put them in.. I do wonder, though, how to manage them...I don't think I want to leave my bulbs on 24/7. I have a reptisun 2.0 bulb in my hood fixture and it's on a timer so it stays on so many hours each day and then goes off. I use rare earth Nightglo bulbs in a separate lamp fixture for heat, and those are the ones I have problems with. I just bought a new lamp- one of those reptile lamps with a dimmer switch type thing on it... I bought two bulbs, one a 40 watt sort of cylindrical one about 5 inches long, and the other a 75 watt regular light bulb shaped one. I thought the 75 watt one was the best b/c I can just turn it up or down depending on the heat needed (the lamp is made for up to 75 watts), but it burned out/quit working after only a week or so of use. Did that happen b/c I was turning it up and down a lot or was it just a bad bulb?

breezeetew · Post by **breezeetew** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:50 am

Are you using the 'regular' shaped incandescent bulbs or the tube shaped ones?I find that the tube shaped bulbs do less overheating because the have more clearance and last longer.

lpshiner · Post by **lpshiner** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:19 am

quote:Are you using the 'regular' shaped incandescent bulbs or the tube shaped ones? The 75 watt one that blew after a week was a regular shaped nightglo (rare earth , I understand?) bulb. The backup one, which I have had only a few days, is a tubular shaped 40 watt one. It just got cold again so I am having to use it, so we'll see if it lasts. The weather can change dramatically here quickly (one day last week it was 86 degrees in the afternoon- by the next morning it was 40 degrees) so I find I have to turn my heat lamps on and off, up and down a lot....