UVB bulbs keep burning out

TheMusicalCham

Established Member
I've gone through 4 UVB bulbs in a single month. I have no idea why they keep going out. I've tried almost every brand from Reptisun to ZooMed to this off brand. The bulbs are in a ZooMed dual dome lamp and it's well ventilated 10 inches from Kaiju's hibiscus. All of these replacement bulbs are getting expensive. Any advice is appreciated!
 
Instead of spending money on replacements, contact the manufacturer of the fixture and tell them your problem. It's certainly a fixture problem and if I thought it was the bulbs, I'd contact their manufacturer and stop burning through my wallet.
 
This is what I have currently
 

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I don't like those lights. There is no accurate UVB rating on them and they're just cheap. I use the swirly bulbs you can get from the pet stores. The long straight bulbs are really best, but lots of people use the CFLs.
 
Both the long straight & swirly bulbs are CFLs the longer are 10 uvb and the swirly are 5 UVB. Many times CFLs can't take the heat a basking light produces. Have you tried switching the the bulb positions, one side to the other. You can try using dielectric grease on the base of the bulbs this helps reduce the electrical shock of turning the fixtures on and off . You can get this product at any auto parts store. If this doesn't help , I'd replace the fixtures .
Good luck Dave
 
i have test this uvb bulb with solarmeter.. and its crap ;) go with t5ho arcadia or reptisun (amazing job) or.. exoterra uvb bulb (not good.. but better)

For you problem, it may be your socket, try with another one
 
could be the fixture if you are going though that many bulbs that quickly. I occasionally have an issue where the bulb will go out but if I readjust the wire itll come on.
 
I'll throw my vote for the fixture. Brand names aside, I find it rather odd that so many brands are failing so quickly. My son got this

https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Re...804&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=exo+terra+dome+lamp

Within the first 20 minutes, his UVB/basking light was flickering. It eventually would not work. I swapped it for a incandescent bulb and within seconds it blew. I gave him one of my older smaller dome lamps and luckily his UVB bulb worked in it just fine (so glad because it was a $30 bulb). My other bulb was actually blown and no good.:(
The UVB is still running today (weeks later) so this tells me it was more than likely the fixture.

If it walks like a duck, quack like a duck.....:cool:
 
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