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Scary UTH Event

randj

randj

New member
This morning we had a scary thing happen--my daughter has her viv in her bedroom and this morning she woke to see that the UTH was actually on fire! She quickly pulled the plug and everything is OK. Murphy seems to be OK--he was at the other end of the tank and it was just one corner where the wire comes in that melted and burned. It is obviously quite frightening to think what could have happened if she had not woken up or if we had not been home.

I am posting this in part as an example to everyone of what to do to prevent this danger--one thing, which I have seen posted many times before, is to have a thermostat or reostat (sp?) so definately we will do that. My husband is an electrician so he is going to look at what other electrical preventive measures we can put in place and I will post them.

If anyone has had a similar experience and figured out a way to prevent it from ever happening again I would like to hear about it.

We don't know how old the UTH was--likely several years--it came with the tank when we got Murphy from the school.

A Thank-you prayer to the powers that be that everyone is OK.
 
An unregulated UTH will usually be far too hot for a Corn anyway. Certainly they can malfunction like any electrical equipment. If it had been running unregulated at full pelt for several years, then it could just have burnt out a componant or something could have melted and shorted out. Also the joint between the wire and the mat itself is a point of weakness. If that had been slightly damaged at some point in the past, then it could have caused the problem.

As an extra safety measure, I have all of my thermostats plugged into multi-gang socket boards designed for use with computer equipment, which have built-in surge protection. This should cushion the thermostats and attached UTHs from surges caused by things like random lightning strikes, or power surges as the electricity supply is returned after a power cut. I've not had any problems with this setup and some of the UTH+thermostat combos have been running for years now.
 
You know they say you should never re-use a UTH- move it from one viv to another. Who knows what that UTH went through before coming into your hands.

You might feel more safe if you invest in a Spyder Robotics thermostat which has a number of safety features and back-up safety features.

Thank God nothing happened and your daughter discovered it in time. A malfunctioning UTH is what started the Gatorland fire.
 
Nanci said:
You know they say you should never re-use a UTH- move it from one viv to another. Who knows what that UTH went through before coming into your hands.

You might feel more safe if you invest in a Spyder Robotics thermostat which has a number of safety features and back-up safety features.

Thank God nothing happened and your daughter discovered it in time. A malfunctioning UTH is what started the Gatorland fire.
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I will ask if they have the Spyder Robotics thermostat at our pet supply store.

On the subject of reusing UTH, I don't know the history of this one but your comment reminded me that I have read on this forum that you can reuse them if you stick them on with tape, so they can go to a bigger tank for a baby snake as it grows. Wondering what kind of tape to use.
 
Bitsy, it was plugged in to a surge protector so apparently that is not always enough. My husband mentioned an "arc fault circuit breaker" that has to go on the electrical panel for the circuit the UTH's are on. They are kind of expensive but we'll do it--not taking any chances.

I suspect that the UTH was just too old and had weakened at that point, but it makes me aware that one should probably be inspecting potential areas of weakness and stress on a regular basis, and the fact that they are under the tank makes them rather inaccessible.
 
randj said:
On the subject of reusing UTH, I don't know the history of this one but your comment reminded me that I have read on this forum that you can reuse them if you stick them on with tape, so they can go to a bigger tank for a baby snake as it grows. Wondering what kind of tape to use.
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Defiantly get a new UTH. When I used heatpads, I peeled the paper covering the sticky part and laid foil on it. That prevents it from sticking to anything so you won't risk bending or damaging the UTH. In order to stick it to something, you use foil tape.
Re-using a UTH isn't harmful as long as you know where it has been. Preferably one you bought new and applied foil to so it won't be easily damaged from removing and replacing. I still have all like 6 of my heatpads foiled and put away.

Thermostats are a key to owning reptiles, never forget. Glad your snake is okay.
-Skully-
 
yes--partly why I posted this--so people will realize that there are hazards one might not think of associated with UTH and not using a thermostat.
 
Your pet supply place most likely won't carry Herpstats, but you can buy directly from the manufacturer. spyderrobotics.com There is a TON of info about thermostats on that site. I'm running 12-14 of them.
 
Yes, you are correct--all we can get in Vernon is Exo-Terra UTH which is supposed to have a temperature that it gets to and not above that, but that is exactly the type which caught fire this AM. Thanks Nanci, was just coming to look for a web site. Only thing is, will the ship to Canada or have a Canadian suplier. I'll go see. I'll ask on the Canadian part of this forum as well.
 
I've always had excellent customer service from the owner, Dion. Just use the Contact Us section on the site. I don't know why he wouldn't ship to Canada.
 
You can buy an extension cord at Walmart that has a ground fault plug. I use it for my fish tank equipment and I am now going to buy one for my viv after reading this. The extension cord was around $25 for an 8ft cord. The ground fault breaker for the electrical box are around $50 here and are pretty easy to install if you go that route. You can also get them on line and it might be cheaper. Glad your daughter and snake are alright.
 
Hmmm--will check into the online for the special breakers--here they are between $85 and $100 @.

My husband does not think the ground fault cord would have helped in this case since they are more to prevent electricity arcing through you to ground, hence its usefulness around aquariums and water. However, couldn't hurt.
 
I had one catch fire in my store one night. It was on a thermostat, too. A cheapo Chinese one, but a thermostat anyway. It housed my personal bearded dragon, who survived, but is today retarded from the over heating. She misses her food, there's a delay in reaction... I don't know if it's her eyesight or what, but she is just a total "special needs" beardie now. Really sucks. For what it's worth, Hagen made it as right with me as they could. They sent me like $750 worth of Hagen stuff for a 40 breeder tank, a piece of Mopani wood, and a dragon that wasn't that valuable except to me.
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Whoa, that sucks. Poor beardie. Since I have so many snakes, I switched over to flexwatt and a hydro thermostat. UTH are nice but you have to watch out.
 
Oh, I have had FAR more fires with Flexwatt. Just saying...
 
I just have to say, GOD DAMMIT EXO TERRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I kept it, but I had an email exchange between me and somebody from Exo-terra. I simply asked why they don't make pre-packaged combos of UTH & thermostat, or UTH with built in dimmer. And they said their products don't need to be used with a thermostat because they don't get hot enough if you use enough substrate. Well obviously these idiots have never met a snake in their lives...snakes which burrow to the very bottom of things...which is EXACTLY where the UTH is supposed to be placed.I have seen FAR more than enough melted UTHs, read FAR more than enough stories regarding UTHs that have caught fire, melted, or otherwise harmed a reptile.

UGH. Hate hate hate hate hate the fact that so many pet stores and the manufacturers THEMSELVES are giving out incorrect and downright DANGEROUS information, such as "no, you don't need a thermostat!" A very large portion of reptile owners probably have never been on a reptile forum in their life, so how are they supposed to know the TRUTH about belly heat!?!?! ALWAYS USE A THERMOSTAT, NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!

And sorry OP, this is not directed at you, but this is a topic that seriously enrages me to no end.

I am so very glad that your pet snake, and your house for that matter, is okay. The luck and karma that were on your side that very day is immense.
 
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