**Mega Ray Issues** / Megaray RECALL

[lilacdragon]

Hi, guys.

The new Westron "Reptile Lamps" are virtually identical to the current model of the T-Rex ActiveUV Heat and (in the UK) Komodo UV Sun lamps (also made by Westron) - these are all rounded, clear-faced spot lamps (but described as floods) which do indeed have quite safe UV spectra with no abnormally short wavelength UVB. However, it is all concentrated into an extremely narrow beam just a few centimetres across, which is what almost all clear-faced R40-shape lamps produce.
As for the output - the ones I've tested from Westron, from T-Rex and from Komodo have varied widely in output but all have started out with a high output (several, extremely high) which has decayed enormously in the first week, (several, to very low levels).
There is in fact a sticky label on every box, warning purchasers to place the lamps at a much greater distance at first, and then bring it closer after so many days. (Sorry this is so vague but I'm away from home so can't access my test results.)

The Lucky Reptile metal halides are only available in the UK and the rest of Europe as far as I know. The Solar Raptor metal halide lamps are very similar, likewise only available in Europe. They need metal halide ballasts, and I think they will soon appear in the USA once suitable 120v ballasts are developed.
I've tested a wide range of these, and other prototype halides too, and I like them very much. The smaller PAR30 size bulbs produce good, gentle UVB and very intense visible light but only over a fairly small area. The larger PAR38 bulbs produce a much wider beam, but this spreads the UVB over a greater area too, so these (or at least, the few I've tested) have had a lower UVB output.

Best wishes

Frances

 

[herpgirl2510]

I had metal halide over my reef tank they were quite expensive to run are these the same way. They also got so hot I have some bad burns when I would accidently come in contact with them.

 

[lilacdragon]

Hi, herpgirl2510.

The sort of metal halide usually used over reef tanks are the long thin twin-ended bulbs with an arc tube inside, that are bought to go behind reinforced glass panels inside a special fixture.
The metal halide bulbs for reptiles are not like these, the arc tube is encased in an outer bulb that looks quite like a regular spotlight bulb and screws into a regular ceramic lampholder.
They don't get as hot to touch as a mercury vapour lamp. I'd say they get about as hot as a regular basking lamp. Which will burn you of course, but not like something really dangerous, eg. a ceramic heater.

The cost of running them is just the cost of running a 70-watt lamp (or 50-watt, or 35-watt, depending on which one you buy.) Reef tanks probably use 250-watt or 500-watt lamps? ...yes, I guess that would be a lot of electricity!

Frances

 

[herpgirl2510]

LOL That makes since.

 

[MissT]

Does anyone have any info on the Arcadia D3 UV basking lamp?? It 'appears' to be an MVB...

http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/arcadia-d3-uv-basking-lamp-100w.html

 

[Drache613]

Hello Christina,

The Arcadia D3 MVB is a good bulb, the last time I spoke with Frances she mentioned that it was a decent bulb. I would love to try it but being in the US, I can't get anyone to send it to me! No one ships it to the US.
If you can get one, I would try it out!

Tracie

 

[Mach10X]

Does anyone know if the bad bulbs (or any other dangerous bulbs) read higher on a SolarMeter?

I bought my solarmeter for 2 reasons.
1. So that I could measure if the bulb was too close or had dangerous levels of UVB.
2. So that I could properly age the bulb and adjust the basking spot as the bulb aged to keep a fairly constant level of UVB.

My MegaRay 60W EB is going on 2 years old and is still producing about 150 uW/cm^2 at the basking area. I plan to purchase a replacement soon but I will continue to use this one in the mean time.

Does anyone know if older bulbs start to leak shorter wavelengths (aka UVC)? I wasn't sure if the bulbs were processed using a phosphor that wore out over time...
My dragon Thor has never had any sort of conjunctivitis. His only health problem was parasites (a moderate giardia infection which I picked up as well).

 

[lilacdragon]

Hi, Mach10X

Does anyone know if the bad bulbs (or any other dangerous bulbs) read higher on a SolarMeter?

Well...yes and no.
If you move a meter closer to ANY bulb you'll get higher readings and also, some excellent bulbs are just very high output.. you'll get very high readings at close range. But some of the "bad" bulbs do give higher readings than expected, especially with a Solarmeter 6.5 UV Index meter, because they have more of the very short-wavelength UVB to which this meter is more sensitive.
But a high Solarmeter 6.2 reading does not tell you anything much about the "badness" of a lamp.

My MegaRay 60W EB is going on 2 years old and is still producing about 150 uW/cm^2 at the basking area. I plan to purchase a replacement soon but I will continue to use this one in the mean time.

Don't buy a replacement! That's a GREAT reading and you can keep your EB MegaRay lamp till it dies. I have an ancient SB MegaRay that is in constant use, 12hrs a day, and has been for SIX YEARS, no kidding. It's still pumping out great UVB and no way will I replace it till it fails.

Does anyone know if older bulbs start to leak shorter wavelengths (aka UVC)? I wasn't sure if the bulbs were processed using a phosphor that wore out over time...

Good question.
No, mercury vapour bulbs can't leak UVC because right from the get-go, they rely upon their glass to filter out the undesirable wavelengths - there is no phosphor. (The milky inner coating in the old MegaRays is an inert magnesium compound) The glass loses transparency as it ages, in fact, so you get LESS chance of UVC as the lamp gets older.
Fluorescent tubes age in two ways; the glass gets less transparent to UV and the phosphor degrades and doesn't fluoresce so well... the ageing glass reduces the risk of UVC leaks; and both effects reduce the UVB output, this is how a fluorescent lamp "decays".
As far as I know, the only way you can get a UVC leak from a tube is if it is made from a type of glass that lets UVC out - ie. a quartz glass, like some of the cheap Chinese tubes - which hasn't aged much and which has a defective coating of phosphor, ie. it has thin areas or streaks where the phosphor coating is absent from the glass, letting UVC through the gap.
Hope this reassures you!

Frances

 

[Mach10X]

Thanks for the reply Frances. I'm acrually a member of the UVB meter owner's Yahoo group, although no longer active. I own the old style solarmeter 6.2. I actually studied physics in college and I figured that the meter would not be sensitive to "bad" bulbs. From your response I gather that the total power of the bad bulbs in uW/cm^2 is the same across the healthy UVB wavelengths that the 6.3 is sensitive to. That must mean these bulbs are more transparent to the shorter wavelengths than before (which now that I think about it the ReptileUV rep stated). I would be interested to analyze the bulbs in a spectrometer to tell the power of each wavelength down to say a 2 nanometer resolution. We studied gamma ray outputs of radioactive materials with such a device, and it was fun, if I recall the pricetag was over $10,000 for the equipment.

Thanks for the clarification on the frosting of the bulb. I had always wondered if it was just a diffuser or a phosphor. I still need to order a bulb so that I have a backup on hand, but I expect at least 1-2 more years out of that bulb (hopefully much more!)

 

[lilacdragon]

Hi, MachX.
I have a nice little Ocean Optics USB2000+ UV-VIS spectrometer here.
I have spectra from every lamp I test; once I get time to actually update my poor website, all the spectra will be included....
It's just finding 36 hours in a day... :?

All the best
Frances

 

[BravoKilo]

So, what's the current status of the Mega-Ray bulbs? I'm in desperate need of a new MVB, and I want the highest quality possible. I purchased my first Mega-Ray at the beginning of this year, and it failed within about 3 weeks. I sent it back to them in accordance with the instructions on their website, and never heard anything from them again. I recently sent them another email inquiring about it, and finally got a response that said to contact Westron if I wanted a replacement - something about a lawsuit, blah, blah, blah... I tried replying to this email, asking about their current bulbs, and again, never heard back. As far as I'm concerned, Mega-Ray is a lousy company with even worse customer service, but if they're selling decent bulbs again, I would hold my nose and try another one.

Are there any high quality MVBs out there these days?

 

[lauraj1055]

So, what's the current status of the Mega-Ray bulbs? I'm in desperate need of a new MVB, and I want the highest quality possible. I purchased my first Mega-Ray at the beginning of this year, and it failed within about 3 weeks. I sent it back to them in accordance with the instructions on their website, and never heard anything from them again. I recently sent them another email inquiring about it, and finally got a response that said to contact Westron if I wanted a replacement - something about a lawsuit, blah, blah, blah... I tried replying to this email, asking about their current bulbs, and again, never heard back. As far as I'm concerned, Mega-Ray is a lousy company with even worse customer service, but if they're selling decent bulbs again, I would hold my nose and try another one.

Are there any high quality MVBs out there these days?

I have heard a lot of good things about the Powersun, and I use the Powersun 160 as recommended by the breeder I bought my little girl from. She has personally tested the bulbs herself and they give off the right UVB index, and also a broader spectrum of UVB instead of streamlined like the TREX active bulbs. So if you want to stick with the MVB, I recommend the Powersun. I got one sent to me directly from Zoo Med and it seems to be a lot brighter than the one I was using before, so I think they changed the lighting on the bulbs because the other one I had before that seemed to be less bright.

 

[BravoKilo]

So, what's the current status of the Mega-Ray bulbs? I'm in desperate need of a new MVB, and I want the highest quality possible. I purchased my first Mega-Ray at the beginning of this year, and it failed within about 3 weeks. I sent it back to them in accordance with the instructions on their website, and never heard anything from them again. I recently sent them another email inquiring about it, and finally got a response that said to contact Westron if I wanted a replacement - something about a lawsuit, blah, blah, blah... I tried replying to this email, asking about their current bulbs, and again, never heard back. As far as I'm concerned, Mega-Ray is a lousy company with even worse customer service, but if they're selling decent bulbs again, I would hold my nose and try another one.

Are there any high quality MVBs out there these days?

I have heard a lot of good things about the Powersun, and I use the Powersun 160 as recommended by the breeder I bought my little girl from. She has personally tested the bulbs herself and they give off the right UVB index, and also a broader spectrum of UVB instead of streamlined like the TREX active bulbs. So if you want to stick with the MVB, I recommend the Powersun. I got one sent to me directly from Zoo Med and it seems to be a lot brighter than the one I was using before, so I think they changed the lighting on the bulbs because the other one I had before that seemed to be less bright.

I actually just picked up a new 100W Powersun last weekend, but my dragon began showing early signs of PKC after only a few days, so I removed it. He's been on only a basking lamp since, and his eyes are already back to normal. Maybe I'll contact ZooMed and see what they have to say. Looks like I may be going to fluorescent tubes. My only concern there is that my dragon is in a 55gal, and they're typically too tall for fluorescent tubes to be within their effective range.

 

[lauraj1055]

So, what's the current status of the Mega-Ray bulbs? I'm in desperate need of a new MVB, and I want the highest quality possible. I purchased my first Mega-Ray at the beginning of this year, and it failed within about 3 weeks. I sent it back to them in accordance with the instructions on their website, and never heard anything from them again. I recently sent them another email inquiring about it, and finally got a response that said to contact Westron if I wanted a replacement - something about a lawsuit, blah, blah, blah... I tried replying to this email, asking about their current bulbs, and again, never heard back. As far as I'm concerned, Mega-Ray is a lousy company with even worse customer service, but if they're selling decent bulbs again, I would hold my nose and try another one.

Are there any high quality MVBs out there these days?

I have heard a lot of good things about the Powersun, and I use the Powersun 160 as recommended by the breeder I bought my little girl from. She has personally tested the bulbs herself and they give off the right UVB index, and also a broader spectrum of UVB instead of streamlined like the TREX active bulbs. So if you want to stick with the MVB, I recommend the Powersun. I got one sent to me directly from Zoo Med and it seems to be a lot brighter than the one I was using before, so I think they changed the lighting on the bulbs because the other one I had before that seemed to be less bright.

I actually just picked up a new 100W Powersun last weekend, but my dragon began showing early signs of PKC after only a few days, so I removed it. He's been on only a basking lamp since, and his eyes are already back to normal. Maybe I'll contact ZooMed and see what they have to say. Looks like I may be going to fluorescent tubes. My only concern there is that my dragon is in a 55gal, and they're typically too tall for fluorescent tubes to be within their effective range.

A lot of people here use the 3m command hooks to put them in the tanks. So you can use those and adjust the height accordingly. If you by the fixture from Walmart for about $8.00, it has holes in the back where screws go, and they sit on the command hooks. Just make sure to secure the tape and the hooks, and let it sit for 2 hours to ensure proper hold.. I think they hold up to 2 - 3 lbs...

 

[beardie parents]

I guess you have to be careful which powersun you buy. The two we bought are not causing any pkc problems with our girls and we've had Goldie's in since early June and Rosie's for just under 2 months. We tried the reptisun 10 tube but it didn't increase Goldie's appetite like it did before we went to the mvb's.