# Smell of burnt plastic from basking bulbs - help



## Amazonia

Hi,

I currently have a 100w basking bulb, which is too hot for my beardie. I've turned the stat down quite a bit but it's still way too hot against his basking stone and he's taken to not basking and sitting up the cooler end on his cork bark instead. 

So I bought a Komodo 75w bulb in the hope that he would bask with that but soon after I'd put it in the holder (screw fit bulb) it started making a smell. I've had this happen before with many other bulbs - it's driving me mad. I've used both reptile branded bulbs and non-branded household bulbs bought from the supermarket and online. The first time it happened was with some bulbs from Asda, it stunk the place out so bad you could smell it as soon as you entered the room. I was worried so I removed it immediately and went back to the shops to get a new one. At the time (late on a Sunday evening) they only had 60w bulbs left so I got these but they were no good. Ended up getting another bulb (the 100w one) online but as I said it's too hot even though it's on a stat it's just burning the basking stone. 

I'm getting really fed up of wasting money on bulbs that do this, and am worried that my beardie isn't getting adequate heat as he's not basking properly with the 100w bulb. 

I use an Arcadia ceramic light fitting. Can anyone tell me, is this type of fitting only safe to use with certain wattage or type of bulbs? What could be going wrong and how can I stop it? I am assuming that it's the bulbs themselves that are at fault and not the fitting, as it's happened with some bulbs but not others (including the 100w I'm using just now - it's fine). I noticed that when I looked at the smelly bulbs the inside of the metal base bit had turned brownish, when it was yellow before. Also, is the smell of burnt plastic likely to go away - can I continue using the bulb again or is it likely to be harmful to my beardie or cause a fire? 

Thanks for any advice


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## Frosty2532

Hi, I would suggest that you have a look at the contacts on your fitting; I think you nay find that at some time you have screwed a bulb in and it has not quite been in tight enough and this may have caused some arcing/burning inside the bulb holder. I have had this happen before and the only way to cure it is to buy a new bulb holder. 

I think that this may be your problem rather than faulty bulbs. You should not get any smell of burning when using your heat lamps and this will only get worse and could be dangerous so needs to be looked at ASAP.

Hope you get this sorted ok.


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## Arcadiajohn

There are a couple of points and tips to make here, firstly the advice above is the most likey source!

If an E27 or screw fit lamp isn't fully and safely inserted the terminals cannot make a good enough contact and the current arcs out across the terminal.

Secondly coloured lamps can be an issue. These lamps are usually just standard lamps dipped in a coloured film, if you run it hard the film starts to melt and can smell.

If you are using either the ADCH ceramic lamp holder or either of the clamp lamps they are rated at over 250w so that cannot be an issue.

One energy saving answer would be to use the halogen heatspot. These lamps use a halogen capsule that heats up instantly and used around half the current of a tungsten lamp to do so. They also have a very thick internal metal reflector that throws all of the heat and light downwards, this also reduces the amount of heat coming out of the sides of the lamp and lessens the risk of the lamp sides overheating other things.

I'm happy to help further if you want!

John


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