Hi

My husband read that the combined UVB/heat bulbs cannot be put onto a timer, but they did not give a reason as to why.  He seems to think that if there is a sufficient gap inbetween the lamp going On & Off, where is the difference in that to any other bulb.
Does anyone know of any reason why?
Thanks
Tortoise7-Jane

Thanks

Tortoise7- Jane 

Hi Jane, the Megaray can be used on a timer.  As you say as long as it is on some time before it goes off and not set to come straight back on then its OK. 

It cannot be used with a dimmer type thermostat, that dims the bulbs when the required temperature is reached, as the bulb cannot be turned down then back up again when the temperature drops.

Vivienne

HI Jane, My Power sun UV bulbs are all on timers. I have read that you can't put them onto thermostatic timers, could this be what he may have read?

HTH

Elaine

Hi, I'm intersted in this as well.  I tried a MegaRay in the kennel and the temp went too high - there wasn't enough height to raise it higher.  But when temps outside drop a bit this might not be the case, at leats not all the time.  I'd like to try the MegaRay on a thermostat so there would not be overheating in the kennel.  I thought that the combined heat and UV bulbs could not be controlled by a thermostat at all - is it OK then if the thermostat is not a dimmer type but an on/off one?  Jonathan

Hi Jonathan, from what I have read MegaRay cannot be used with a thermostat.  Once the lamp goes off, it cannot be switched back on again for about 10mins. A thermostat may switch the lamp on before this time has elapsed and cause the bulb to blow.

Vivienne

Thanks guys for the replies. That will make life so much easier now I know that we can use a thermastat , happy days ahead.

Tortoise7-Jane

No Jane, not a thermostat , you can use a timer !!! lol

Vivienne

oops I meant Timer- but thanks for the prompt...

Tortoise7-Jane

ok guys, ive got a thermo control ll which has a thermostat which i  set at 10 in case the night temps drop the ceramic heat lamp comes on, it also has a timer thats independant from the thermostat, can i use this on my mega ray?

thanks

sharon xxxx

Hi Sharon, do you plug the thermo control in to the timer?  If the timer is a separate unit then yes the Megaray should be ok.  Would it be possible to give a link to the unit so we can see exactly how it works?

Vivienne

Thermo Control II [LRTCII] £35.96

Click to enlarge The successor of the popular Thermo Control thermostats shows only with its price that it is an entry model. The Thermo Control II is a digital thermostat with a temperature range of 0-50°C. The permanent temperature displays also allows its use as thermometer. Heaters of up to 1200W can be connected through a coupling. A second coupling is controlled through an integrated timer. It can be used to set operating hours for lighting or ventilators. The external sensor can measure in water and air. In addition the Thermo Control II has an alarm function which warns optically and acoustically if the measured temperature is too high or too low (value can be set). Overall a device that should not be missing in any terrarium!

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 05 December, 2007

hi didnt know how else to put it hun xxxx

Sharon, my reading of the above is that the MegaRay is not suitable for use on a thermostat full stop.  The reason being that the thermostat would switch the lamp on and off at intervals that were too short.  The lamp takes a few minutes to warm up fully, a thermostat might switch it off again befre it even got going properly.  Then it would try and switch it back on again, but the MegaRay like the Powersun will not re-start right away after its been switched off - it needs some minutes to be re-set.   Apart from the system not working properly I think all this would shorten the life of the bulb drastically.

My own conclusion is that I cannot use my MegaRay in the kennel.  An alternative for me might be to use a Reptiglow 10 in conjunction with the ceramic heater, which works well wih a thermostat.

Hope this helps a bit. Jonathan

it has one plug to the mains, this leads to a double headed socket with plug holes marked l and ll the l is for the thermostat and the other for the timer,you can use it for just a timer or thermo or both at the same time, it means that just because the temp has dropped and the heater has come on the light wont until its timed on, you set it by how many hours a day you want it on and how many off as there is no clock device, hope this helps

sharon xxxx

Sorry I've read Sharon's post more carefully, and I think this is just a question of using a MegaRay on a timer, in which case this is fine and I do this all the time when my torts are indoors on the table. 

Jonathan

Yes I agree with you Jonathan it does look as thought the timer is separate from the thermo controller, so the Megaray should be ok with this unit.

Vivienne

Thermostats are a BIG no no with all Mercury Vapour Bulbs, however plug in timers are great to give regular light to your tortoises.

The Self Ballasted MVB's contain a Filament much the same as a normal bulb, this heats the arc tube and UV light is produced, there is also pressure which builds in the arc tubes.  when the bulb switches off that pressure needs to reduce which it does as the arc tube cools, in order for it to ignite again.  The constant on/off of the thermostat does not allow for this cooling so the bulb will be all over the place..

Thats the short version anyway

Darren

Kimbos Reptile World