Vivarium Electronics / Reptile Basics Radiant Heat Panel warning

[WhompingWillow]

I'm going to take this post with a grain of salt as I've seen these "warning" posts before for VE/RB panels and they always end with the person going to pro panels. For some reason, the OPs only post once or a few times and disappear...

With that being said, I've had my Reptile Basics panels for literally years and never had any issues. Maybe VE or RB can chime in on this.

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While I can't speak for the OP's experience, and while I haven't been nearly as active on this site as I once was (due to kids, home projects, etc.) I can speak to my experience with the older style Vivarium Electronics heat panels - I recently replied to a post about it but will mention it here and include photos.

Of the heat panels we were running, 2 were the older style VE kind with the plug that could be removed from the panel itself, 2 are newer VE ones where the wire cannot come out of the panel, and 1 is from ProProducts. I liked the ease of ordering VE panels, which is why we initially went with them.

A few weeks ago while checking on snakes and turning on lights, I noticed that our BCL had partially unplugged the wire from the panel and it was literally smoking. Part of the plug had melted. I hate to think of what could have happened to my animals and house if I hadn't gone down to that snake room when I did. All RHPs were/are controlled by Herpstats.

Needless to say, we stopped using those panels immediately and have replaced them with ones from ProProducts. We still have the 2 newer style VE panels but will also be replacing those as they look like they have warped.

Buy whichever products you prefer and feel comfortable with, but there are safety issues with VE RHPs.