UTH fire hazard?**

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:06 pm

You can buy the rubber "feet" at Walmart or Target. They are usually in the section with the door stops and stuff. Mine are clear and the package said the were for cabinet doors or the legs of furniture.

Gorthaur · Post by **Gorthaur** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:15 pm

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the only way any brand or wattage of UTH can start a fire is if it is buried in dry newspaper, then gets a short circuit. Zoo Med, Exo Terra, etc. only puts all those warnings on the instruction manuals so there is no way they can get sued, if, by chance, something goes wrong.

The maximum temperature an UTH can get to is about 120 F., though 105 F is the normal maximum. Even if there were no air circulation (which is practically impossible) the air around the UTH could not get any hotter than that. The combustion point of most woods is about 400 F. (Correct me if I'm wrong), a far cry from what an UTH can produce.

There is no more risk in using an UTH than in using any other electrical device.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:27 pm

Kindling temperature: The temperature to which a fuel must be heated to catch fire. Wood ignites at temperatures between 375 and 510 degrees Fahrenheit. Any moisture in or on the fuel will have to be boiled off (at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or less for volatile plant sap) before the fuel can get hot

enough to burn well. Burning at low temperatures creates smoke. Smoke is simply the result of incomplete combustion.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:29 pm

blue_soda025

so sorry

, it's hard to tell sometimes. I'm a girl too

.

Hope everything works out OK, and don't stress about it starting a fire

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:27 pm

I use those big chunky lego blocks (designed for toddlers) around the edges of my tank to give it a few more inches than the rubber feet. It works great! Just on the edge so they don't touch the bottom of the UTH. Also, while we are on the subject of UTHs. I had one break after only a few months It just stopped working. Zoo med and Petsmart were both very nice about it. I called Zoo med first and they told me they would replace the heater (a large one for a 40 gallon tank) if Petsmart didn't. I went to Petsmart the next day and they quickly gave me a new UTH (I had my receipt).
Also- and most of you probably know this-don't put you water dish near your UTH! I had a water dish over a layer of gravel and a layer of sand with my UTH on the outside bottom of my smaller (10 gallon) tank. The last time I was cleaning the tank I noticed the glass cracked where the heater is. I guess from the water spilling down onto the glass occasionally.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:53 pm

Mr. Big wrote:Also- and most of you probably know this-don't put you water dish near your UTH! I had a water dish over a layer of gravel and a layer of sand with my UTH on the outside bottom of my smaller (10 gallon) tank. The last time I was cleaning the tank I noticed the glass cracked where the heater is. I guess from the water spilling down onto the glass occasionally.

That would be a defect in the glass not caused by water sitting on the glass above the UTH. The boiling point for water is way above what the UTH can create. I have a layer of sand, a layer of stone and then a water bowl sitting directly above my UTH. It's the same method I've used for all the reptiles I have had that require high humidty. I haven't had a cracked tank yet.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:19 pm

Can you explain "defect in the tank"? I had the tank for at least a year before this happened. Is it just kind of a freak thing that can't really be prevented?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 3:40 pm

Fish tanks just crack sometimes. I had a 10g crack with all of my fish in it!! Thank God someone was home to help me!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:25 pm

Mr. Big wrote:Can you explain "defect in the tank"? I had the tank for at least a year before this happened. Is it just kind of a freak thing that can't really be prevented?

Sometimes there is no visable defects. Sometimes it can be a microscopic bubble in the glass. Tanks are made to hold their load but over time a small defect that you can't even see with your naked eye can cause a crack in the tank.

Example. My husband got me a betta for my birthday in December. He is in a glass goldfish bowl next to my computer stand so I can watch him swim. I picked the bowl up, from the bottom, so I could take it in to change the water. And the goldfish bowl just shattered. I didn't tap it against anything and I had emptied over half the water out via syphoning before moving it. Remaining water, gravel and betta went all over the place. Luckily, I snagged him off the floor and dropped him in a glass with dechlored water while I ran out the the petstore to get another bowl for him.

On the flip side. I have moved my 70 Gallon tank while it still had gravel in the bottom and not had anything happen.

Sometimes a tank can look perfect but have a defect. Unfortunatly, you don't know about the defect until something happens.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:41 pm

Rapid temp. changes can crack glass. In the directions I got with my UTH it warned against spritzing my tank with cool water due to the potential of the glass cracking when the cool water hit the warm glass. I would assume the thicker the substrate the less likely that the glass will crack. Unless you use just gravel because the water would seep to the bottom very quickly and thus not have a chance to warm up before it reached the glass.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:56 pm

I've never poured water directly onto the glass where my UTH is. I have too much substrate and sand and gravel between the water dish and the UTH for that to ever be a situation I would encounter. And the dish I use for evaporation for humidity isn't one that my crabs take a dip in. I glued a few clam shells together with aquarium sealant and put them on top to dicourage swimming.

Any glass can crack with drastic temprature shifts. Put a coffee mug in the fridge then pour hot water into it and it'll crack even though it's made to hold hot water. The trick is to put a layer of sand down, put some rocks on top of it and then settle the dish in around your substrate. Then any sloppage of water filling gets sucked up by your substrate.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:57 pm

Thanks for your replies. I purposely put more gravel than sand over the UTH because I thought it would be safer for the crabs when they buried (I figured I could stop them from tunneling directly on top of the UTH area). It could be a defect but I think in this case the case of the damage was too much gravel, not enough sand, allowing the water to spill almost directly onto the UTH area.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 6:59 pm

First, i don't think a UTH would get hot enough to catch a wooden stand fire.... I have 2 UTH's on my tank, and that is sitting on a wooden dresser, and the wood gets barly even warm.... and i dont use anything to prop it up...

But if you want to take the extra safty... please go right ahead... its always better to be safe than sorry.