"Burn in" time for mega-ray MVB?

[icelore]

I just switched my bulb to a Mega-Ray 100 watt Self-Ballasted Flood UVB lamp, and the temps don't seem to be where I want them. 12 inches from my basking spot (wood) is reading 95, and on the floor (slate, approx 6-7in lower then the top of the basking spot) is only 81-83. For reference, my 60 watt household incandescent will heat the floor of the tank to 85 at the same distance. It seems like the MVB is relatively weak, but I've read here and there that they have "burn in" time and will get hotter in a few days. Is this true? Ambient temp in the room is 65-70, so what temps should I expect at the min 12in distance for this 100w bulb?

Also, it just doesn't seem as bright as I expected. Again, the clear household bulb is brighter. I'm worried that the bulb is bad and isn't putting out enough UV since the visible light and heat levels are lower then expected.

Lastly, I ordered a solar meter to check the bulb with - what should a new bulb be reading and what is the range I want it to be at before I replace it?

 

[Sauzo]

I've been using the MegaRay 100 watt MVB for awhile now and yes, it doesn't produce squat for heat. I use a basking bulb next to it to get the basking temps I want. If I remember correctly, a guy I talked to about the MegaRay when I first ran mine said after about 3 hours he was getting reading of 130-140 uw/cm2 at 12 inches with it. A reptisun 10.0 T8 puts out about 30 uw/cm2 at 12 inches and a guy said he was still getting 21 uw/cm2 at 12 inches out of 1 after 4000 hours. This is what I've read from other sites and from guys I've talked to as I haven't broken down and picked up a solar meter yet.

As for the light, they aren't gonna be your usual "warm" orange/yellow light since those are around the 2500-3000 kelvin scale and lights like reptisun and megaray are gonna be in the 4000-5000 kelvin scale which will be a more bluish light.

As for new, like I said, the guy I talked to with his solar meter said his MegaRay 100 watt was reading about 130-140 uw/cm2 after 3 hours. As for range to replace, I would guess 20 or less in uw/cm2 range.

And finally, 95 degrees out of your MegaRay was about the same temps I was getting out of mine. Think I actually was getting 98 degrees but my house/reptile room is kept 75 degrees so it's alittle warmer. I run both a MegaRay and reptisun 10.0 but my reptisun is mounted about 10 inches so it gives off the uvb about equal to a shady day throughout the uvb half of the cage with the megaRay giving off a nice focused beam for times when Harley really wants to soak up the UVB(usually in the mornings). Then in the mid to late afternoons, she climbs under her hammock(still on the UVB side) and stretches out there in the shade.

I would be curious though as to what readings you get on your MegaRay new as I've only ran into 1 other person using it and having a solar meter. I really need to break down and just buy a meter too. Did you get the Solartech 6.2?

 

[icelore]

Thanks for the info.

I got the 5.0 just cause I'm cheap. lol I'm not worried about complete accuracy so much as displaying deterioration over time, so it will do fine for that. And I got one at a good price ($27) so that helped too.

The temps do seem to be warming up a bit over the past few days. I'm on day 4 or 5 now, and it's a little warmer then it was yesterday, so there's that!

 

[Sauzo]

Oh wow nice. Can't beat $27 for a meter.