heating pad fire question

[JeepMiller09]

Ok I am going to start up a roach colony. The heating pad that you place on the bottom of the tub concerns me as a fire hazard since it never shuts off. For those of you that have bins are they sitting on carpet, wood floors, shelves?? Don't want to start my apt on fire.

Thanks
Miller

 

[rcpeacock]

I have a problem with heating pads, for that very reason. There are many safe guards with heating pads, but it still a controlled short. Stuff happens. I use a 60 watt red/night light bulb. It too, is a controlled short, but at least it is wrapped in glass and not plastic I have a rubber maid tote, wrapped in 1 1/2" egg crate padding(for insulation purposes), and my temps are @ 90 degrees. No worries of fire from my bug room. My roaches are thriving

 

[Grogshla]

would a surge prevension device help.
just plug it into your power socket then plug your heat mate into it with a thermostat. You should be fine

 

[dedc369]

i heatr that that takes down humidity to much is this true?

 

[JeepMiller09]

I have a problem with heating pads, for that very reason. There are many safe guards with heating pads, but it still a controlled short. Stuff happens. I use a 60 watt red/night light bulb. It too, is a controlled short, but at least it is wrapped in glass and not plastic I have a rubber maid tote, wrapped in 1 1/2" egg crate padding(for insulation purposes), and my temps are @ 90 degrees. No worries of fire from my bug room. My roaches are thriving

Is there any way you could post a pic of your set up?

 

[rcpeacock]

be happy to. just give me a few, Jeep

 

[rcpeacock]

I just cleaned my roaches out, So I just set the new style bin in the old one. I still have to egg crate the new bin. I am re-doing all my bins with internal ceramic light sockets. Boosted temps by 6 to 8 degrees, and dropped from 75 watt bulbs to 60 watts. @ Home Depot...Ceramic light socket, $1.49. 6 foot extension cord, $1.13, not having to move a bunch of crap off the tops of my bins, PRICELESS :lol:

My bug room is a cool 64 degrees. It is 24 outside, and we have 6 to 7 inches of snow, so 88.4 is the lowest temp I have seen in my roach bin. I have the top covered with towels, until I finish insulating my bin. I can drop the towels over the side vent holes, and bump temps up another five degrees. Its working really well

Inside of roach bin

My whole setup. A work in progress :shock:

 

[changilass]

WOW just how many different things do you breed.

That's an amazing set up.

There was me thinking I was doing good cos I bought 1 bin today.

 

[JeepMiller09]

Wow thank you so much I will for sure go pick everything up tomorrow! I just took apart and old ceramic heat lamp cut a small hole in the lid and I am hitting 88 also but no vents cut in yet. Thank you again for ur pics!

 

[rcpeacock]

One roach bin. Several cricket bins. My criks started out real slow. Then BAM, 10,000+ or so. I split the first batch up, but I have two "breeding/egg" dishes hatching in another. 1 or 2 spares. I will never buy Bella a crik again BTW, if you leave your egg/breeding dish in for ten or eleven days, with a 1000 or so criks, BE PREPARED!!! Its all good though. I get the pretty big bins(30 gallons) for $8, and the 18 gallons for $4, the light socket for $1.49, and the cord for $1.13. I have screen and hot glue sticks, so, for $11 for the big, and $7 for the smaller, I'd say pretty cheap. I am also about to start with my superworms, also. I think I have more fun with my bugs, as anything else.

 

[rcpeacock]

No prob Jeep, good luck. You can insulate the tub with anything. Just a couple of towels worked great for me. If your light is on top, like a dome, you can loose a little heat that way. Thats why I moved mine to the inside. I just have this thing about burning lots of light bulbs :shock: Heard my dad say too many times when I was a kid....."This place is lit up like an airport. What are tryin to do boy, land a damn plane on the roof?!?!" :idea: :mrgreen: :idea:

 

[suzuki4life]

60w bulb puts off a ton of heat. To put it that close to a paper product is asking for a fire. I hope you have used a pryometer on all nearby surfaces and have a working smoke detector in that room. The bulb will dry ou the egg crates and make them even more flamable over time.

 

[rcpeacock]

I appreciate your concern. I too have a fear of being burned alive. Paper has a combustion temp of 451 degrees Fahrenheit.(give or take depending on circumstances) Most of the plastic totes that we use, are made of polypropylene. The general melting point of it is 320 degrees fahrenheit.(so my bug bins should melt into a pool of plastic, long before I see flames) My temps were around 125f, at the closest egg crate. To be safe, I did cut them back several inches.(better safe than sorry) Temps of 102f, at present. I live in Texas/Arkansas(on the state line) It gets to 105 to 110 here, regularly, during most summers. I have yet to see a newspaper stand spontaneously combust, in all of my 41 years :lol: No offense.
Just in the heart of experiment, I have taken a piece of egg crate, and placed it in direct contact with a 100 watt bulb. I will let you know when it ignites. Don't hold your breath :mrgreen:

 

[rcpeacock]

Correction....a 75 watt bulb(no working 100s)

UPDATE.....After twenty two minutes, I saw a very minute plume of smoke coming from my bulb/egg crate experiment. :shock: :study: :?: :?: Upon inspection, it appeared to be smoldering cricket poop(I used previously used egg crates). Cricket poop burned off, no more smoke. Sixty three minutes and counting. I will post any new findings as they arise. Thank you, that is all :mrgreen: