# Melting exo terra heat mat !!



## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

I noticed a faint burning smell in my reptile room on Thursday night a bit like the smell of solder. I unplugged everything from the walls and looked for the source checking all plugs and bulbs ,fittings in my vivs ,when i looked under my exoterra glass viv the smell was very strong and the heat mat had started to melt around the area where the wire is attached. 

the mat was attached to the underside off the viv and the stat probe was positioned inside the viv directly above the middle of the mat and the temp set to 32.

the temp reading from my viv was fine from middle of the mat but at the wire entry point must of been much higher to melt the mat.

I have been testing the stat in a empty viv with a prorep mat and temps have been spot on for 24 hours now so am thinking must be a problem with the mat.

has anybody had same problems with exo terra mats ? i wont be using them again on any of my set ups .


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## jetsmart1 (Feb 7, 2011)

i dont think its because temp was too high rather than a cross or malfunction inside the mat, there was someone on here a while ago who left a mat connected for months just to see if it had any problems, after 6 months or so it melted itself and tried to set on fire!


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

yea i would say its a problem with the mat shorting out somewhere just very worrying as could of easy caught fire if i wasn't in the room as it started to melt


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## jetsmart1 (Feb 7, 2011)

its a scary thought, i worry every time i leave my house as it is, one reason i avoid heat mats, something about seeing copper wire inside laminated plastic i dont trust

effectively a heat mat is just the same as shorting the battery and the wire getting hot in my eyes, exept the wire is laminated in a plastic square lol!


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

am going to start converting to Ceramics i think. but suppose any electrical component can fail


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

my response from complaint to Hagen 

Dear Mr xxxxxxx

Thank you for your e-mail.

Sorry to hear about the problem with your heat mat.

This can happen with all makes of heat mat,it is either caused by a compaction of substerate causing a hot spot or the wire has had too much tension causine a break in the element.

The mat has a warranty so please return it to your supplier who will inspect it and replace if faulty.

Best Regards,


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

cant say i want a replacement one to be honest .


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## peterf (Jul 27, 2007)

There are so many threads like this!
Use carbon impregated glass cloth heat mats and not printed elements!!!!
Habistat style mats have been manufactured for over 25 Years in this way and we have never had one failure in this manner.
For more information do a search!


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

peterf said:


> There are so many threads like this!
> Use carbon impregated glass cloth heat mats and not printed elements!!!!
> Habistat style mats have been manufactured for over 25 Years in this way and we have never had one failure in this manner.
> For more information do a search!


are habistat and prorep mats the same as i have prorep mats in my other vivs and have had no problems


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## peterf (Jul 27, 2007)

Yes, all made by Habistat and the good type


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## sheena is a gecko (Apr 22, 2011)

Was this the sticky self adhesive exo terra mat? We had 2 of them do the same thing even though they were connected to stats, burnt holes straight through the middle. They're rubbish IMO, I would never get another one. We use normal non sticky heat mats now and just secure them to the bottom of the exo with electrical tape so there's a slight air space between, had no problems in 7 years doing it this way :2thumb:


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## knowlex (May 13, 2011)

yea one of the stick on ones, its the last one like that i get .


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## Molly75 (Jul 10, 2006)

peterf said:


> There are so many threads like this!
> Use carbon impregated glass cloth heat mats and not printed elements!!!!
> Habistat style mats have been manufactured for over 25 Years in this way and we have never had one failure in this manner.
> For more information do a search!


Have to so agree, I've got many old mats which have been working over 20 years yet I bought some new ones a few years back and had the same issues with a mat which was on a stat, I've also had German heat cables burn in the same way


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