Anyway to ground a herpstat?

[euphuistical]

I got a herpstat II without grounded cables a d was wondering if there was a way to ground it myself. I am not much of an electrician so I have no idea if this is possible.

The reason is that I just recently bought a metal rack and need my thermostat to be groounded.

I may just break down and buy a Johnson with nightdrop or a herpstat nd.

Thoughts?

[RichsBallPythons]

I bought non grounded and plugged the herpstat into a power pack surge protector which will stop the fuse from blowing in the herpstat.

[euphuistical]

I bought non grounded and plugged the herpstat into a power pack surge protector which will stop the fuse from blowing in the herpstat.

But I don't think that let's me plug grounded (3 prong) heating elements in to the thermostat on a metal rack without electrocuting me, or does it?

I'd have to do that then plug a grounded power stip via a converter (think I've seen them at Home Depot or something) then plug the heating elements in to that power strip, right?

Does that make it as safe as if I actually had a grounded thermostat?

[RichsBallPythons]

it wont ever be 100% grounded unless you rewire the herpstat with a grounded power strip. but using a power stril will help ground it better.

[PythonWallace]

it wont ever be 100% grounded unless you rewire the herpstat with a grounded power strip. but using a power stril will help ground it better.

What do you mean by being grounded better. A surge protector will help with surges and spikes, but something is either grounded, or it isn't.

You can email Dion and see if it's possible to remove the cord and re-wire it with a grounded cord, but I know that the Herpstat Basics are wired to the PCB before the transformer is put in, so it would take some work if it is possible. But I don't think Dion would advise you to do something like that for liability reasons. I've asked him about making them special for me so I can wire them myself for the incubators I sell, and he basically told me the above. If you were knowledgeable in small electronics you could open it up and see what would be involved, but since that isn't the case, you would probably be better off buying a grounded thermostat.

[spyderrobotics]

We can make custom Herpstat II's with grounded cords. They are $20 additional which pays for the cost difference of the cords and the extra labor. The cords themselves cost us $9 a cord and the Herpstat II takes two of them. If someone wanted to pay shipping both ways and have a Herpstat II retrofitted with grounded cords we could do that but the easiest way would be to just drill into the metal rack if it doesn't already have a ground hookup and wire from rack to rack and then ground to the outlet. You can either pull the plastic cover off and find a way to ground to the metal box or even easier is to just take the cheapest 3 prong extensions cord you can find and just clip the outlet end off, strip back the hot and neutral wires and tape them up and then connect the ground wire to your wire routed to the racks. Should be less than a 5 minute job. Metal racks should be grounded because if the heat tape fails or has a break in it that touches the metal the electricity will go through the rack, through you, to ground.

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

[771subliminal]

We can make custom Herpstat II's with grounded cords. They are $20 additional which pays for the cost difference of the cords and the extra labor. The cords themselves cost us $9 a cord and the Herpstat II takes two of them. If someone wanted to pay shipping both ways and have a Herpstat II retrofitted with grounded cords we could do that but the easiest way would be to just drill into the metal rack if it doesn't already have a ground hookup and wire from rack to rack and then ground to the outlet. You can either pull the plastic cover off and find a way to ground to the metal box or even easier is to just take the cheapest 3 prong extensions cord you can find and just clip the outlet end off, strip back the hot and neutral wires and tape them up and then connect the ground wire to your wire routed to the racks. Should be less than a 5 minute job. Metal racks should be grounded because if the heat tape fails or has a break in it that touches the metal the electricity will go through the rack, through you, to ground.

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

customer service at its best right there