Arcadia t5 fixture catching fire

[jamest0o0]

Just wanted to put it out there that my fixture holding just a uvb bulb caught fire today for seemingly no reason. Been in the same spot on a timer for a year and a half. I’m trying to think if it was something I could have done, but nothing changed or stood out to my knowledge. My wife called me at work to say the whole room was filled with smoke smelling like plastic. Luckily, kids weren’t home and she got it off and aired out.

 

[jamest0o0]

Now I am afraid to ever use a t5 fixture for a UVB bulb/anything again lol… is there any alternative or safety measure for something like this? Seems like a massive risk even if it’s like oh well our light fixtures MIGHT catch on fire sometime years down the road. Could be your house or worse gone in the wrong situation….

 

[LizardLurkin]

That is scary....Would being on a dimming thermostat not help? I assume it was on some sort of zoomed timer power strip or something of the like. This is definitely something to think about. I have my heat lamps on a thermostat but I never considered the uvb fixture!

 

[jamest0o0]

It wasn’t the hood that caught fire from being hot, it was the connectors where the bulb hooks up to, I didn’t even have a bulb in that socket, just the one uvb.

It was plugged into the wall with a regular timer.

 

[ehdee6]

That's frightening, thankfully someone was home to catch it!

The only thing I can think, is maybe by some off chance, water/condensation got into the bulb socket?

Do you have pictures?

 

[MissSkittles]

It wasn’t the hood that caught fire from being hot, it was the connectors where the bulb hooks up to, I didn’t even have a bulb in that socket, just the one uvb.

It was plugged into the wall with a regular timer.

This is terrifying! I’m not understanding what part caught fire though, Is it where the plug goes into the fixture or where the ends of the bulbs go in? Would a power surge cause this?