Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone here ever have the fuse in their Helix blow?

Last weekend I was checking in on my snakes, and one of the racks's thermostat was not on. So, panicking, I checked the temperatures and hooked up a backup on-off type that I had, and ran it to a different outlet. For those of you who don't know, I am at school right now, and my boas that are here with me are being kept at a friend's apartment. He said that he had checked it at 2pm and it was fine, I found it out at 5pm. So after I changed the thermostat , I took off the back-plate of the Helix to find the fuse inside had blown.

I was unable to find a replacement up here at radio shack, so I'm having my mom mail me one from home, and if that doesn't work to send me an extra Herpstat thermostat.

Has anyone ever had the fuse blow in their Helix? If so, do you know why, or what may have caused it? Also, did it work after replacing the fuse?

Lastly, has anyone had to send in for the warranty on their Helix?

I'm just glad this happened while I was here, and not home for Thanksgiving. Further support to my use of one thermostat per cage/rack. For those of you who use one Thermostat for multiple cages/racks, just think of what is rellying on that one thermostat. I have 7 boas in the rack where the thermostat went out on.

Oh and, if the fuse blows on the Helix, does it spike the temp, or cut the current? I would imagine that it cuts the current. I don't know exactly when this happened, as I said, but the boas were all at stable temps. I just want to know if this happened again to one of my thermostats, are the snakes cooking, or are they just being lowered to room temperature.

Fuses are amperage load rated,regardless of what type unit it is in whether a Helix or a Cobra CB radio makes no difference.
When amperage load is exceeded the fuse element melts and cuts all power into the unit preventing overload damage to the unit.
Useing Surge protectors upstream from the Helix will prevent such things for you in the future.
Building code standards require breaker style outlets in bathrooms and kitchens that are next to water sources.
Their simple to install and arent as bulky as the strip style units used for computers etc.Battery A/C power back up is needed when D/C surges accure.
As with "any" fused unit a spare fuse is always a handy item to have around.

M/

I didn't have a surge protector on this one, I do on my others. Guess I will have to change that.

I've had one go out before too Chris. The biggest problem was finding another fuse that small! I ended up going to "Farm King" as Radio Shack, and various other electronic departments failed to have what I needed. So, my suggestion to anyone would be.....go get a fuse now, in case it does ever go out on you in the future! Glad everything worked out for you, take care

Paul

Without useing these units .....what kind of fuse is it ?
glass tube or spade ? Amperage ?
Details for the other who may inquire.

m/

>>I've had one go out before too Chris. The biggest problem was finding another fuse that small! I ended up going to "Farm King" as Radio Shack, and various other electronic departments failed to have what I needed. So, my suggestion to anyone would be.....go get a fuse now, in case it does ever go out on you in the future! Glad everything worked out for you, take care
>>
>>Paul

Glass tube, 1/2 inch. 6 amp, 125 volt

I work part time at a hardware store when I am at home, so I had my mom pick one up there, they always have odd things like that, and I can order it if they don't.

with i believe any thermal protection type, there are a couple ways it can trip or blow the fuse. A high spike in current that melts the fuse right away or a small current increase which might take a little longer to melt. Too much load can cause a rise in current that will blow the fuse. Check to see how much power your heating elements are consuming and compare to the power rating on your Helix(i believe it's 400 or 500 watts)

If it's in a newer building there should be a GFCI receptacle for every circuit, which will detect a current difference caused by shorts to ground and open the circuit.

Before you change the fuse, I would check for any shorts in the wiring or heating devices. If your equipment is not grounded properly, it can create a big hazard, even if everything work properly. For instance, lets say there is a short to a metal case or plate(like on freedom breeders) that is not grounded properly or does not have the ground plug plugged in, that plate can carry a high voltage that's just waiting to send a current through your body.

It is a Boaphile Rhino RaXX 10 drawer sweater box rack. All plastic construction, sealed connections, nothing is wrong with the rack and Jeff uses low wattage heat in the rack. I know people who have 4 of these on the same thermostat.

I didn't have it plugged into a surge protector, and the outlet is not a GFCI outlet (which just cut current in the event of a ground fault).

I've had the rack on the thermostat for two years without a problem. So the only variable is the outlet and not having a surge protector. Since I used surge protectors at home, and the outlets were obviously different. Though at home I did have breakers trip every so often, my sister's room was on the same circut and when she used her hair dryer while I had the tv or computer on, it would trip. However, it never caused a problem in my thermostats, once the breaker was re-set.

Make sure you are not over 500w or a short in the heat strip
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Vince Pramuk

Heat strip is good, low wattage flex watt routed into plastic. Boaphile Rhino RaXX rack. The wattage is under the 500W limit, and has been hooked up for over two years, minus moving to school from home.

Think of a fuse like a light bulb. The Filament is very fragile and will blow over the slightest anomoly ( could be a million differnt things ). Once a fuse is blown, no power will go to the unit. If there was no apparent cause, I wouldn't dwell on it too much. Being a Electrician, and having delt with some very sensitive Electronics, I've seen it happen time and time again. Some fuses last forever, some don't; Again, think about a light bulb. You might want to look on your owners manual or contact Jeff Washburn about using Helix's with surge protectors. I believe that they suggest not using a surge protector because the unit is already surge protected and may cause potential damage to the unit ( can't remember the specifics ). I used to use Helix's, but after 10-12 months of use they would show an E3 error and I would have to send them back to Helix to get them reset. I've been using Ranco's since and never had any problems. Where I live we have alot of power outages, and that seems to tear up proportional thermostats for whatever reason