I need advice on thermostat probe placement

[ChrisS]

As far as the flex watt catching fire, plug it into a surge protector. A real one now a power strip labelled as one. This will prevent large spikes from running through your heat tape. It can handle small spikes as long as your not at it's maximum capacity. If the regular current of electricity was an issue with heat tape we would of heard of many fires being directly linked to it by now.

[satomi325]

I place my probe exactly on my middle shelf of the rack and right in the middle of the flexwatt.
Don't tape the probe head itself down as the tape can trap heat and cause inaccurate readings. And I wouldn't put the thermostat probe into a tub either. You risk the snake moving it or getting water/urine on it, which can cause inaccurate readings to the thermostat and spikes in the temperature.

Temperature reading on the thermostat may differ from actual flexwatt temps. For me, my flexwatt reads exactly 100, my thermostat is set to 91, and my tubs range 88-92.

My rack varies, top being warmest and bottom being coolest. But all tubs are within a temp range of 88-92.



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[suzuki4life]

As far as the flex watt catching fire, plug it into a surge protector. A real one now a power strip labelled as one. This will prevent large spikes from running through your heat tape. It can handle small spikes as long as your not at it's maximum capacity. If the regular current of electricity was an issue with heat tape we would of heard of many fires being directly linked to it by now.

you don't need huge surges to burn flexwatt over time. If surge protectors were so great, electronics guys wouldn't have moved onto power conditioners.

Many failures have been recorded.

[suzuki4life]

So by placing the probe directly on the heat tape, how often does your thermostat turn on and off? Depending on ambient temp of the room, the thermostat could be flickering on and off at a high rate. Flickering on and off of thermostats can cause failure by over working them. i've seen many cheaper thermostats that fail in the "on" position. When this happens, your heat tape runs at full voltage, it is now unregulated and uncontrolled. I have a friend who had exactly this happen to the point he fried the snake. Yes it died.

Dimmer switches can fail. If they fail, the circuit is interrupted and power is then lost. No shorts to worry about. So worst scenario, the snake falls to room temperature if setup my way. Do it the other way, thermostat fails in "on" position, flexwatt overheats,and fire occurs. Not worth the risk over lacking the use of a dimmer switch.

[RetiredJedi]

I tape my probe on the center shelf in the center of the flexwatt. I only tape the back of it closest to the cord itself and the very tip of the probe. I have my VE200 set at 98 and it keeps my hotspot in the tub at about 91.

[kitedemon]

So by placing the probe directly on the heat tape, how often does your thermostat turn on and off? Depending on ambient temp of the room, the thermostat could be flickering on and off at a high rate. Flickering on and off of thermostats can cause failure by over working them. i've seen many cheaper thermostats that fail in the "on" position. When this happens, your heat tape runs at full voltage, it is now unregulated and uncontrolled. I have a friend who had exactly this happen to the point he fried the snake. Yes it died.

Dimmer switches can fail. If they fail, the circuit is interrupted and power is then lost. No shorts to worry about. So worst scenario, the snake falls to room temperature if setup my way. Do it the other way, thermostat fails in "on" position, flexwatt overheats,and fire occurs. Not worth the risk over lacking the use of a dimmer switch.

I get what you are saying but dimmers in the set up do not allow the t-stat to do its job. If the room temp drop the dimmer will not allow the heater to get to a temp warm enough to provide adequate heat. I agree a fail safe is not an optional tool. Especially in racks too many moving bits around the probe. But I disagree that a dimmer is the way to do so. I would use a second t-stat the chances of both failing and both failing open are so long to be not worth discussing.

If that is added to the modern T-stats that have over and under and secondary error finding circuits those odds are even farther away. Rheostats also do not kill the power they just restrict it. Your first comment they will not prevent a fire as power is still running a failsafe t-stat stops the power in the event of over load.

My safety systems are simple GFCI outlets in the snake room, Smoke alarm, Tstat's backed by failsafe t stats, monthly inspections of all connections and flexwatt panels. Oh there is also a fire extinguisher in the room too.

[suzuki4life]

I get what you are saying but dimmers in the set up do not allow the t-stat to do its job. If the room temp drop the dimmer will not allow the heater to get to a temp warm enough to provide adequate heat. I agree a fail safe is not an optional tool. Especially in racks too many moving bits around the probe. But I disagree that a dimmer is the way to do so. I would use a second t-stat the chances of both failing and both failing open are so long to be not worth discussing.

If that is added to the modern T-stats that have over and under and secondary error finding circuits those odds are even farther away. Rheostats also do not kill the power they just restrict it. Your first comment they will not prevent a fire as power is still running a failsafe t-stat stops the power in the event of over load.

My safety systems are simple GFCI outlets in the snake room, Smoke alarm, Tstat's backed by failsafe t stats, monthly inspections of all connections and flexwatt panels. Oh there is also a fire extinguisher in the room too.

A dimmer does not restrict the thermostat from doing its job. IF your flexwatt can not raise the temp of your tub to the temp you desire while having it restricted to 92 degrees, then you have not selected the appropriate flex watt for your application. Dimmer is there to keep the tape from exceeding 92 degrees. Thermostats are there to turn the tape on and off thus allowing the temps to raise to 92 degrees. If you need temps above 92 degrees, you probably shouldn't be using flexwatt.

[RetiredJedi]

So by placing the probe directly on the heat tape, how often does your thermostat turn on and off? Depending on ambient temp of the room, the thermostat could be flickering on and off at a high rate. Flickering on and off of thermostats can cause failure by over working them. i've seen many cheaper thermostats that fail in the "on" position. When this happens, your heat tape runs at full voltage, it is now unregulated and uncontrolled. I have a friend who had exactly this happen to the point he fried the snake. Yes it died.

Dimmer switches can fail. If they fail, the circuit is interrupted and power is then lost. No shorts to worry about. So worst scenario, the snake falls to room temperature if setup my way. Do it the other way, thermostat fails in "on" position, flexwatt overheats,and fire occurs. Not worth the risk over lacking the use of a dimmer switch.

Here's how I did it:

[suzuki4life]

Your elaborate setup still exceeds manufacturers recomendations thus puts you at risk for shorts and burns.the odds of your probe reading the highest point at 104 is very unlikely. I am betting at 104, you have hot spots well over 120 degrees.

If the main (ie: the cheaper) thermostat fails in off position, your rack goes cold.

I can accomplish the exact same thing for $35.

You spent well over $100 to gain nothing.

I am really not understanding why people need to make this so difficult/expensive?

[RetiredJedi]

If the main (ie: the cheaper) thermostat fails in off position, your rack goes cold.
Well the cheaper one is NOT the main thermostat, the VE 200 is. I used the cheaper one for at least a year and 104 reading would have my hot spot at about 96 and it is the backup. The rack doesn't go cold if that happens because it will turn back on once the temp on the probe of that particular ones. If the temp goes down 3 degrees it turns back on.

I can accomplish the exact same thing for $35.
It only cost me $35 but I preferrred the proportional one.

You spent well over $100 to gain nothing.
I gained a lot since the VE200 keeps the temps at a constant temp within a .1 degree instead a constant on/off. Plus I don't consider $115 well over $100.

I am really not understanding why people need to make this so difficult/expensive?
It wasn't difficult at all it was a choice I made and am really happy with. I had the hydrofarm one anyway so I wanted to use it