another fire strikes one of our own

[Don]

Hate to hijack this thread, but it has gone off. I remember somewhere being told when buying power strips, do not buy any with surge protection built in. Those don't work well if you are using them between the thermostat and one or two racks. Maybe someone here can shed some light on this.

[RichsBallPythons]

Hate to hijack this thread, but it has gone off. I remember somewhere being told when buying power strips, do not buy any with surge protection built in. Those don't work well if you are using them between the thermostat and one or two racks. Maybe someone here can shed some light on this.

They work, But cheap strips have a long delay which will cause your electronic components to be exposed to surges. You want to buy ones that has the shortest Delay in nanoseconds. This will insure the fastest surge protection

[Don]

This is the one I use in my reptile room:

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-6-Outle...ata/B000IF51UQ

Even though it has six outlets, I never use more than two. I don't see the delay, or now know if it is any good or not. I thought I was good until this thread. I am not an electrician, but have done everything I can to increase the safety of my room, including double thermostats, fire extinguisher and smoke alarm. I would hate to learn that my power strips are now a weak point.

[RichsBallPythons]

That one will be fine, Belkin makes theres strictly for sensitive electronics. And as long as it was 200 joules or higher your fine.

Not all companies list the delay time, have to look that up or call them directly

[knox]

My thoughts are certainly with this family.

Wishing a speedy and healthy recovery for the home and health.

[Mike41793]

Using the tape is better over the plastic covers yes, But clips and solder 2 different methods of wiring up.

Clips being they over time can get loose and cause problems. When Solder is loose you lose connection and no heat.

As long as you check the clips often making sure their not wiggling on the flexwatt and insulate with electrical tape you should be fine.

Ok cool, you mean put elec. tape over plastic clips or take off the clips and just put tape over the metal clips? I may just solder them bc that doesnt look too hard. Plus i only have 1 homemade rack right now so checking them often isnt a big deal for me.

[AGoldReptiles]

First I would like to give my condolences to the Whitmers.

Second it is a good thing some of you are not reporters. It clearly stats that he received burns from trying to rescue animals, not from trying to escape.

Third... Do you guys have inside info on how the fire started? People going on a tangent about heat tape, clips, and solder. A bunch of accusations with NO facts. How do you know it was from heat tape? How do you know they used clips? How were those clips attached? I think people are quick to blame the clips without knowledge as to how they were attached. Was the special crimper used, or just some pliers? All of the unknowns, but yet everyone talk like they knew exactly what happened.

[Don]

Third... Do you guys have inside info on how the fire started? People going on a tangent about heat tape, clips, and solder. A bunch of accusations with NO facts. How do you know it was from heat tape? How do you know they used clips? How were those clips attached? I think people are quick to blame the clips without knowledge as to how they were attached. Was the special crimper used, or just some pliers? All of the unknowns, but yet everyone talk like they knew exactly what happened.

I don't think anyone said how the fire started. It is common for snake owners to have flexwatt, clips, power strips, thermostats and all of those can fail and cause fires. The thread did take a tangent discussing how to improve safety and I think that is a good thing. There have been several fires related to reptile facilities and anytime we can have a discussion on how to improve safety, it is a good thing. Hopefully, someone who reads this thread will learn something that just may prevent a fire in their collection.

I'm just sorry the discussion had to come up in such a tragic thread. The Whitmers are in my thoughts and prayers. Also, I don't think anyone here said that they did anything wrong.

[kitedemon]

Flexwatt is well know to have caused fires in the past. I have no idea about the cause of this tragedy but it has opened (again sadly) concern for our own set ups.

[snake lab]

Tragedies can prevent future tragedies. so i dont think it should be an issue that people debate or discuss things that we know can start fires in our snake rooms. No we dont know what started this fire but the most common culprit would be electrical so whats the issue with pointing out the usual suspects?