Holy Crap! My brooder lamp exploded!!!

[Jonny]

I recently changed my infrared lightbulb from a 250W to a 100W repti bulb last week. And just now, it exploded!!! My two chickies were fine, but left them quite startled. It was loud and smoke came from the bulb. I have a typical brooder clamp lamp, with ceramic top..
Anyone any idea what made it explode? Could it be dust from the saw dust that makes the bulb too hot so it explodes??

I'm so glad I was there and that my chicks were fine!!!

 

[happyhensny]

No idea what happend. Scary though.

ETA: a drop of water on that super hot bulb?

 

[ginormous chicken]

I used to use a lot of those red infrared repti bulbs for my reptiles. I switched over from those bulbs to ceramic lights. They are much more expensive but worth it! Anyway, they did that all the time. The reason is 2 fold: 1. they aren't made very well and the filament is fragile. 2. If those light go very quickly from hot to cold or reverse they blow. It used to happen either early in the morning or late at night. That is when the temp drops here in the Sacramento Valley.

I am glad your chickens are OK.

 

[Jonny]

Quote:
Thanks for the info. Reason I switched to this repti type bulb one is because I couldn't find any Wattage lower than 250W on the more sturdy ones. anyone know if they exist in lower wattage?

 

[tigercreek]

I have heard that you can buy a reostat, or maybe a dimmer switch, from Walmart to adjust the wattage, (voltage?) . Going to need to look into that soon as my chicks are now a week old, and it is starting to feel like spring time here in Fla. ............stan

 

[dianaross77]

Home depot has lamp dimmers for $10. I have one and it's allowed me to adjust the temp in my brooder without having to move the fixture, which is a real pain if your lamp is secured properly. A reptile rheostat is the same thing but costs twice as much and the lamp dimmer is good for bulbs up to 300 watts.

 

[babyrnlc]

I bought a lamp from Pets Mart that had a dimmer build in (it was like $11). So I can dim it as they grow.

I have used the red reptile lights for years for the snake and never had that happen. That is what I am using on the chicks.

I wonder what happened.

 

[terrilhb]

So glad the chicks are ok.

I had that happen to me a long time ago and the light was not on. Scared me to death.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I cannot tell you how much I recommend the ceramic heat emitters that are used for reptiles.

First, they aren't 250 watts and I don't think most of use really need that much heat. We had a brooder fire about a month ago and lost 2 chicks. It was caused by one of the red 250watt bulbs that came apart where the glass inserts into the metal. The hot bulb fell into the plastic brooder and caught it on fire. It was a miracle that the house didn't go up in flames as well.

Second, I have been able to get chicks on a day/night sleep cycle using the ceramic heat emitters. For the first week, I leave a lamp on in the room so they can see, but it's not shining directly on them. After they are up and around after the first week, I change the lamp bulb to a 15watt bulb so there is just enough light to dimly light the room. Around 10:00 at night, I go in, turn on the 15watt bulb, turn off the main lamp and tell them goodnight. They all settle right down into a big silkie pile and do not get up until the next morning. I know this because I have tiptoed in during the night a few times to check and they are sleeping soundly.

In the morning at 6:00 a.m. I turn on the main lamp and tell them good morning. They jump up, stretch their legs and wings and start running around peeping while I put in fresh water and feed. They play and rest all day and we repeat the cycle that night.

I will tell you that these are the sweetest and quietest chicks I've ever raised. I would never do it any other way now....

 

[silverfern]

made in China is what happened