Ceramic Lamp threw power out in one room

My enclosure has sliding lids and usually, the fixture stays put on the screen while the screen moves a few inches. Nothing usually falls over. Well, today was the day where the cord got stuck on something behind the tank and my ceramic fixture got knocked over. As soon as it happened, the ceiling light as well as every plug in that room shut off.

After investigating the ceramic bulb and it's fixture separately, I noticed that the connection at the electrical foot contact of the bulb had been melted onto the center contact of the socket. By falling over, the solder most likely broke and caused a shortage and thus, shut off the entire room.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2e6f0ed9d3.jpg

I am not sure why the connectors were able to melt into each other. I don't have any directions or manuals for the two but since the bulb reads "100W 120V" and the fixture reads "120V -250W" I thought they could be used together.
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I've had the two for a while because they came with the snake but I stopped using them for a few months until I finally decided to add them into the heating system of my (now much larger) enclosure. I had them on 24h for about a week or two. Nowhere on them does it say to not use them for an extended period of time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Now my poor danger noodle is sitting in the cold until our power returns [emoji300]

With CHEs you want to check them every once in a while to make sure the bulb is tight.
If it gets a little loose it will arc.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

With CHEs you want to check them every once in a while to make sure the bulb is tight.
If it gets a little loose it will arc.

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It wasn't loose at all. I've tried unscrewing it before to check the wattage (my dad got mad for having all these heaters on my tank) and I could barely unscrew it. That was around the time I started using it about a week ago. I screwed it back in tightly. Looking at the connectors of the bulb, they are in fact bent to the side (left in the photo), doesn't it?

This happens from it not being screwed in tight enough?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8280a671ec.jpg

Melted/metal transfer.
Look at the burn in the fixture..

Like Pit said, you need to check their tightness every once in awhile. Also they can be left on 24/7. I have one on my roach bin and its fine. Used to have one on my JCP too. Other than it being loose and arcing like Pit said, I cant see what else happened. As for no power, cant you just go to your house fuse panel and flip the breaker back on for that room/section of the house? If not, then my advice is see if any of your local pet shops have UniHeat heat packs or worst case, get regular hand warmers and stuff them inside a sock and wrap it up as those tend to get hot. Also if you still have hot water, can fill plastic bottles with warm water and put them in the cage. Or depending how long the power is out, stuff the snake in your shirt and hang out lol.

Yeah, I saw that too :(
IS that caused by it not being screwed in all the way? I'm always scared to screw it so hard that the bulb portion breaks off from the force since it's ceramic. Same with light bulbs which seem even more fragile. I'm not a very strong person at all with my 5'3" and 90lbs but I still think I would be able to break it by screwing it in. I always screw them in until I feel the stop where it would go further but when unscrewing, you'd have to overcome that little tightness friction to unscrew it smoothly. (If that makes any sense. I don't know how to describe screwing and unscrewing a light bulb :'D)

You don't have to screw it in with the wrath of god tightness. Just have to make sure it isn't rattling around in the fixture.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Like Pit said, you need to check their tightness every once in awhile. Also they can be left on 24/7. I have one on my roach bin and its fine. Used to have one on my JCP too. Other than it being loose and arcing like Pit said, I cant see what else happened. As for no power, cant you just go to your house fuse panel and flip the breaker back on for that room/section of the house? If not, then my advice is see if any of your local pet shops have UniHeat heat packs or worst case, get regular hand warmers and stuff them inside a sock and wrap it up as those tend to get hot. Also if you still have hot water, can fill plastic bottles with warm water and put them in the cage. Or depending how long the power is out, stuff the snake in your shirt and hang out lol.

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I'd love to stuff him in my shirt but he ate last night and I'd rather not have him and a couple of dead mice in there separately haha

The power is only out in that one room (and one adjacent room) the attached bathroom, and entire rest of the house still have power. I just ran an extension cord into his room for the thermostat with his heat pad so he is fine. We checked the fuse box and they're all completely up...

Well at least most of the house still has power. I'm no electrician but from what I know, you have to flip the breaker switch off and then back on to reset it for those rooms. I'm assuming you or whoever else is there knows this :)

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Well at least most of the house still has power. I'm no electrician but from what I know, you have to flip the breaker switch off and then back on to reset it for those rooms. I'm assuming you or whoever else is there knows this :)

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Sauzo is right, it may not look like the breaker is tripped, but it does need to be reset.

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Originally Posted by Paty

I'd love to stuff him in my shirt but he ate last night and I'd rather not have him and a couple of dead mice in there separately haha

The power is only out in that one room (and one adjacent room) the attached bathroom, and entire rest of the house still have power. I just ran an extension cord into his room for the thermostat with his heat pad so he is fine. We checked the fuse box and they're all completely up...

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If any extra wiring or additions to the house were done are you sure you don't have a small Fuse box or extra Breaker Panel in another part of the house or basement? The only other thing I can think of is the breaker didnt trip and the wire connected to the back of the plug socket that the CHE was plugged into fouled that socket.. If the electricity cant make a complete circuit then those rooms on that run wont work. Turn off the main breaker (to the whole house) and pull that plug out of the wall and see if its burnt. If it is they are $2 at Lowes ect... 5 min job. Look up changing a Plug Socket on youtube....

Turn off to reset breaker then turn back to on position.

Looks like an arc, probably from being jarred. Bend that tab up a little so it makes good contact. If you have any other problems from it and are unsure, junk it and start with a new one


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Yep ,check the breaker for that circuit.
If you cannot figure out which one it is then just flip each one off and back on.

This house is fairly new, single story, no additions.
My dad is pretty good with that kind of stuff. But since he's not affected, he's not as motivated to do anything about it. Other than that he's a mechanical engineer (literally) :D

I'm just wondering about the lamp itself. I don't want replace it and use one again if that's a likely thing to happen... I don't know what brand it was from

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Originally Posted by Paty

mechanical engineer

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Im an auto mechanic...... We fix what they screw up on paper:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sorry, couldnt resist.

That lamp fixture is a Zoo Med one. I checked up the item number LF-10. http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/En...M6MToiMSI7fQ==

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Im an auto mechanic...... We fix what they screw up on paper:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sorry, couldnt resist.

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Haha I guess so!

There was a big reason duct tape sticker that said "Keep OFF" so we didn't touch it. Turns out, it had to be touched. 😂 and it wasn't the engineer who did it.