Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend i am going to be building two cages that measure 48" by 23.25" by like 23" (LWH). I am going to be using RHP's to heat them. Should i go with pro-products, enerjoy, or helix? likes and dislikes appreciated. I am leaning towards pro-products as of now.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

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I went with the Helix ones and I am very happy. They did take a week to finish outgassing though. Let them outgass on full blast for a week before you install them and you'll be fine. When I was first looking I found this article:

http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ_answers_Do_you_like_radiant_heat_panels.html

I read your post regarding Pro Exotic's FAQ's and our Pro Heat radiant panels. Please understand that what Robyn is stating is not correct and due to another issue we have with them (PE), they are trying their best to "hurt" our company reputation.
The facts of the matter are:
PE did buy panels from us in 1998. During the period they bought them, we did have a problem with a defective component from one of our suppliers that caused the copper buss to get hot enough to melt the surface coating directly over the buss, but not hot enough to cause other damage or a fire. As the buss barr increased in temperature, the surface would start to show brown spots (polyurethane coating turning brown due to the higher temperature) in a line along it. As the panel continued to be used, the spots would get larger, darker and then the plastic surface would start to degradate along the buss bar, exposing the carbon graphite heating element which is black in color. If the panel was used long enough, the element was exposed along much of the buss bar. Looking at the pictures Robyn posted shows these various stages of damage. Even though this happened, the panels, due to their construction, can't support combustion and therefore can't create any safety hazard, period. They never "shorted out and burned through". The damage Robyn shows is the worst that could happen. For the panel he posted to be in the condition shown, it had to have been used for an extended period after the problem first occurred. It would take many days or more of continued use/overheating to produce the damage shown. Our panels are ASTM rated E84 < 25, which is the same rating fiberglass insulation and other similar products are rated. Our panels can't create a safety hazard and are actually "self extinguishing", so the panels could never burn. They are made of non combustible materials. He also states that over 30% of the panels burnt out in this fashion which is also untrue. Many of the panels he returned to us were still in working condition, but as evidenced by the extreme darkening of the surface, were obviously being used in a manner warned not to do in our instruction/warranty information. Despite this, we replaced these panels as well and didn't even bring up the issue of misuse. He implies our panels are made in a garage; well our "garage" is a 15,000sq. ft. facility.
Since we made our heating element in large runs, we really couldn't tell what pieces were defective (not every piece was), so this problem haunted us for a couple of years. However, any panel that did fail was replaced and for what it is worth, even some of the replacement panels failed because of the same problem for the reason explained above. I can state that these customers who had panels fail (talk to Rob Carmichael of the Lake Forest Nature center for one) are still using the product and are happy with the performance, safety and our company service. If our panels were so unreliable and such a safety risk, these people obviously wouldn't continue to use them. We also completely changed the design of these panels to meet the harsher requirements of our zoo and other professional sales, so the panels he is showing aren't even being made anymore. It is interesting that he ordered the product back in 1998, but has waited until now to "warn" the public.
I invite anyone to investigate this story and find anyone who can back up Robyn's claim of our Pro Heat radiant panels ever having caused any damage, or created any safety hazard. With the exception of the damage to the panel surface in the picture, even Robyn had no other problems. He is also "warning" everyone about a heating element that isn't being used anymore. Our product is UL listed and ASTM rated. If our product was such a risk, then one would think with 10's of thousands of units being used worldwide, why isn't anyone else complaining about them. In fact, we have one of the best reputations for a heat source of all of the products being sold.

As to Helix being a superior panel, everyone is entitled to their opinion as to what product they want to use, however Helix panels have a lower watt density, so you need a larger unit to provide the proper heat. This will diminish the ability to create a higher basking site temperature while maintaining a gradient in the cage. Due to their design, they create more parasitic heat losses, so will use more electricity to provide the same amount of BTU output as our Pro Heat radiant panels do. Because the heating element is sandwiched inside of the Helix panel shell (totally against "physics 101" of radiant heat design), it will reach higher internal temperatures, increasing the risk of the panel failing. These higher temperatures can also cause the shell to split and crack over time due to the heat, allowing water and excess humidity to enter the unit. Pro Heat panels offer a 10 year warranty, Helix is now offering a 3 year and enerjoy panels (which are not made for high humidity applications) are only covered by a 1 year warranty from the factory regardless of what a retailer may state

We invite anyone to contact us if they have any questions.

Bob@Pro Products
Pro Products

Anyone that has a decent working knowledge of electronics realizes that FAQ article is poor humor at best.

Tim