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Review on ๐ŸŒฟ Enhance Your Reptile's Habitat with Zilla Premium Reflector Domes 8.5 Inches by Becky Chopra

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Best harddome we have but check cables if years of use - potential hazard

This is a replacement for a 10 year old Zilla. The old one looks the same. Just keep an eye on the cord near the lamp. Since you are using heat, after a while (years) the rubber can crack and work 24/7. Ours broke, and then the wires touched, sparks and a fire hazard. I think they need to rethink the rubber or the design. When I contacted Zilla they just said thank you for the information. The warranty was clearly expired, but I wanted to inform them of the danger. This is one of the best fixed domes and we have several of them. Some of the older ones seem to have the same issues when used for heating and run 24/7 for several years. I haven't seen anything that suggests another manufacturer had a better solution. UPDATE: Here is what Zilla sent me: (Actually they updated the light fixture in 2015 with extra insulation) Thank you for bringing our attention to the issue you are having. Based on the noises that happened with the 5" dome, you may have an arc in the socket. A strong arc in the fixture could potentially cut the wires from the outlet. Although this is very rare, we have taken steps to ensure that the material of the lamp, wires and ceramic plug will not ignite if not causing a fire. In early 2015 we also added another protection for the cords in the outlet. Now the wires in the socket are thermally sheathed to further insulate them from the heat they are exposed to. Any new device you buy should be wrapped around the wires as shown in the photo I've attached. With the current domes you have, there is one thing you can check to make sure you don't experience this again. If you look in the middle of the bracket where the bulb screws in, there should be a copper or bronze colored tab, lift the tab about halfway. When the tab is flat, it's not making contact with the bulb, causing electricity to bounce around to keep the bulb working. This usually just causes the lamp to burn out prematurely, but it can potentially cause an arc that could damage the wires in the socket. Before troubleshooting, make sure the device is disconnected from the power supply. I will forward your email to our quality department.

Pros
  • Impressive
Cons
  • boring packaging