Wire housing extremely hot!

[Jessicap]

The metal housing that the lamp holders are attached to inside my enclosure are getting extremely hot - untouchable. I wired it the same as the my smaller enclosure and I am able to touch that metal box. Any suggestions?

HEre is what the set up looks like

Thanks!

 

[68merc]

check the connections in the box asap!

 

[Robert]

On a separate note, the ghostly image of your camera looks cool.

 

[bettinge]

Don't use it until you sort it out, as there is likely a fire hazard.

Are the CHE's the same wattage? Are you using the same gage wire? Recheck all connections.

 

[jaizei]

Do you know exactly how hot it gets, maybe use a temperature gun on it?

 

[Jessicap]

Do you know exactly how hot it gets, maybe use a temperature gun on it?

Yes it read about 125. The picture I showed was of the one that is not hot to the touch but if I put the heat gun to the hole out the top it also reads 120 some, but I can touch the metal box that the holder is attached to.

It is not just one but all 4 of the lamp holders I put into the new enclosure! Same gage wire, the metal boxes did not have the little hole in the side, but created a couple. AAAhhhhgggg.. I am not looking forward to taking them all apart to rewire them all. I have the holes in the plywood sealed with caulk - do you think that could cause it? That is the only think I can think of that is different than the other one that is not hot to the touch.

 

[81SHOVELHEAD]

Do you know exactly how hot it gets, maybe use a temperature gun on it?

Yes it read about 125. The picture I showed was of the one that is not hot to the touch but if I put the heat gun to the hole out the top it also reads 120 some, but I can touch the metal box that the holder is attached to.

It is not just one but all 4 of the lamp holders I put into the new enclosure! Same gage wire, the metal boxes did not have the little hole in the side, but created a couple. AAAhhhhgggg.. I am not looking forward to taking them all apart to rewire them all. I have the holes in the plywood sealed with caulk - do you think that could cause it? That is the only think I can think of that is different than the other one that is not hot to the touch.

Jessi
I'm not an electrician by any means but i have the same type of fixtures in my 4x2x2 dragon enclosure & the one with the 100 wt sb mega-ray gets about 120 with temp gun .
The fixture i run the 60 wt day glow bulb for extra heat doesn't seem to get as hot as the 100 wt does . (95F)
I have been using this set up for 3 yrs & haven't had any problems yet.
What wattage che is that?
Are the wires right at the fixtures hot?
Could be just ambient temp coming from che?
Mike D.

 

[jaizei]

the metal boxes did not have the little hole in the side, but created a couple.

Not sure I understand this, but it might just be a problem with the heat dissipation. Try pointing the temp gun at the CHE itself and see how hot that is. So the idea that the metal box is 125 isn't too extreme. I think the fire risk is low, but it's probably a good idea to find out what's causing the difference. The wire gauge shouldn't be the problem, but out of curiosity, what size did you use?

 

[Jessicap]

I think I figured out the issue... lol. I created a light cover for the new enclosure so if I added a small lizard or frog later on they could not get to the bulb. I took one of the fixtures apart, rewired it and tried it without the cover and it did not get as warm (could hold my figure on it). I then took a cover of another one and tried it and it too stayed cool enough to touch. So I am thinking the covers hold too much heat and directs it up to the metal box. I am drilling more and larger holes into the covers to see if that helps. Here is a picture of the covers:

As for the materials used for the fixture itself, I used the largest lamp wire, a metal electral housing box, and a standard porcelain lamp holder. There are only 2 wires. The covers are made from a hose clamp that is fastened just above the lamp holder onto the metal box, 7gage wire, and a 4 to 6 in heat duct pipe. I covered the bottom opening with a piece of fiberglass screening. I have some smaller holes drilled around the cover.

Thank you so much of all your replies. It is so comforting to know there are so many nice people out there willing to help! Thank you.

 

[Balboa]

Very Ingenious covers, but yes that could be a problem, especially with a CHE. If covered a CHE needs to have some kind of a wire mesh cover (they aren't even supposed to be mounted in brooder style fixtures). You could try fashioning something from hardware cloth.

 

[Jessicap]

Very Ingenious covers, but yes that could be a problem, especially with a CHE. If covered a CHE needs to have some kind of a wire mesh cover (they aren't even supposed to be mounted in brooder style fixtures). You could try fashioning something from hardware cloth.

thank you - very good to know!