Ceramic Heating Element?

[Ben]

I was looking at lamphead's creation using a potpurri heating element ( https://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/smart-century?commentId=156... ) and I was wondering if anyone had thought of or tried using one of these reptile heaters instead of a bulb:  

http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Ceramic-Heater-250-Watt-110-Volt/dp/B00... 

Anyone tried it yet?  I'm new around here; I may have missed this already.  

[Jim]

It works well and the ceramic heaters are dimmable.  Problem for  me is that the heaters seem to have a short life span.  Either that or I have a bad socket. Bottom line - my heater stopped working.  I used a 75 watt heater in an Excalibur.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/green-flouro-excalibur

[Dr. WHAT?!]

lol well your half right, that heating element wasn't used for potpourri more for pot aka vaporizer element. Not cheap from what I hear. As for the reptile heating element, I use one of those on my UV grande with the use of external blacklights. It does get pretty hot and just barely fits the base.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/blacklight-grande?context=user

[Ben]

Ahhh, thats why I couldn't find one by googling "potpourri heating element"!  LOL.  That went right over my head.  

What wattage is the reptile element in your Grande?  The element I saw on Amazon comes in 40w, 60w, 100w, 150w, and 250w models.  I wonder if this wattage equal the same bulb wattage?  I don't have an Excalibur like Jim does or even know how big they are so I can't use that as a benchmark.  I wonder if the 250w version would run my Colossus properly, unlike the supplied Phillips 250w bulb.  Then add LEDs and viola, a 21st century lamp!  Sounds too easy/good to be true.  

Dr. WHAT?! said:

lol well your half right, that heating element wasn't used for potpourri more for pot aka vaporizer element. Not cheap from what I hear. As for the reptile heating element, I use one of those on my UV grande with the use of external blacklights. It does get pretty hot and just barely fits the base.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/blacklight-grande?context=user

[Ben]

Jim, how long did it last?  Do you suspect dimming it burned it out faster?

Jim said:

It works well and the ceramic heaters are dimmable.  Problem for  me is that the heaters seem to have a short life span.  Either that or I have a bad socket. Bottom line - my heater stopped working.  I used a 75 watt heater in an Excalibur.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/green-flouro-excalibur

[Dr. WHAT?!]

I have a 100w on mine, it does take a little longer then a bulb to get flowing but it works nicely, and if it starts to overheat you can throw a dimmer on it. The led lighting I would be concerned about though, like I said this element gets HOT and its a tight fit so finding room for LEDS that won't fry from the heat will be a issue. I'm sure it would melt wires etc. Also I would be too paranoid using a 250 heating element on a colossus but if you want to risk it lol

[Dr. WHAT?!]

Right on the box (at least mine did) its says these have 5 year warranty

Ben said:

Jim, how long did it last?  Do you suspect dimming it burned it out faster?

Jim said:

It works well and the ceramic heaters are dimmable.  Problem for  me is that the heaters seem to have a short life span.  Either that or I have a bad socket. Bottom line - my heater stopped working.  I used a 75 watt heater in an Excalibur.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/green-flouro-excalibur

[Ben]

Yeah, it would have to be watched closely of course.  I did some more research and found this "better" product:  

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Black-Infrared-Ceramic-Emitters

And a thermostat to pair with it, which if it worked according to plan, would be PERFECT for my finicky Colossus:

http://www.bigappleherp.com/BAH-1000-Thermostat

The videos on these pages are very helpful.  

As for overheating LEDs, I have the same concerns, but isn't that how they are doing it with the Mathmos lamps?  

[Dr. WHAT?!]

I would not use anything infrared honestly. I would just use the standard element. The infrared is formulated for reptiles and the lack of natural sun light due to being in captivity. Infrared will mess with the color of your globe.

If you look at the mathmos base, its a much different set up then what you can do with a existing lava lite base.

[Ben]

These ceramic elements are all infrared.  The Mathmos bases are not?  (I have zero experience with those.)

[Dr. WHAT?!]

not all no they dont, my zoo med one isn't

Just use the search feature here for the smart astro base and you'll find pics.

[Dr. WHAT?!]

its more like a heat ring to allow the led light to pass thru.

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/forum/topics/uk-smart-astro-review

[Ben]

Right. Saw that. I just wish I could find a suitable hack. The element is perfect except for room for LEDs.