HELP quick UVB question

[pr3mo15]

Hey, I just read a comment that someone posted on somebody elses thread.

It says make sure there is no film/glass blocking the UVB light.

I know UV rays cant go through windows....But my uvb light case has a plastic cover covering the light...Its been like this for about 2months now...He hasnt seem to had any problems shedding....

Im just an idiot and NEVER even thought about if the uvb light goes through the plastic cover ><

Lemme know asap please!!! Thanks!

PS: I dont know if this matters but the plastic cover is about as thick as 2 quarters

 

[jannb]

Take that plastic cover off ASAP. The UV CAN NOT get throught that cover.

 

[pr3mo15]

oooo YAY...goodjob me ! :[

thanks alot!! its already off now

I appreciate it!

 

[Dave Weldon]

...I dont know if this matters but the plastic cover is about as thick as 2 quarters

Howdy,

Which mfgr and model UVB tube and fixture are you using that came with the plastic lens?

 

[Docility]

it was probably a fish tank strip light, and those do allow for the transition of UVB/UVA, but if it was a household one then no its all getting filtered out

 

[pr3mo15]

Sorry for late response. Havnt had to much time lately to come surf this site....The light fixture i bought at petco actually for about 35$ and it already had a uvb light in it, and yes it came with the plastic cover aswell...Im not sure which light it had or what kind of fixture it is. I replaced it right away with the repti sun 5.0 though. Although, I was just looking at the case to see if it had a name on it, and it says NOTE: remove lens for UVA and UVB output. Cant believe i didnt read that ><

But now i know and im glad i asked and its fixed

 

[Dave Weldon]

... was just looking at the case to see if it had a name on it, and it says NOTE: remove lens for UVA and UVB output. Cant believe i didnt read that...

Howdy,

Yep, that was the one I thought you might have had . I had contacted the mfgr/importer of that brand years ago and discussed re-labelling it with a warning about removing the plastic cover. It seems that because of their design, they had to have the plastic cover on it to meet certain "UL" standards. Their solution was to sell it with the cover in place and stick a label on it warning about the UVB issue. Their original label warned the user that the UVB would yellow the plastic and had nothing to do with blocking UVB . We discussed the ramifications of no UVB reaching the animal and that is what I think prompted the change.

Interestingly enough some newer UVB/Reptile fixture/tubes actually do come with a plastic cover that does pass something like ~%80 of the UVB output through the cover. One of those is the R-Zilla UVB tube and fixture that, even with the plastic cover, killed chameleons from severe overdosing of UVB to the point of causing UVB radiation burns. Go figure... . Yet another reason why the Solarmeter 6.2 is so handy .