Thermostat probe

[Trogdorpheus]

So, I'm planning out a wooden enclosure where I'm gonna have a UTH inside the enclosure. The bottom wood will have holes drilled into it for ventilation with foil over it, then the UTH, then vinyl tile over the whole bottom of the tank and finally the substrate.

My question is how can I secure the thermostat probe to a location above the UTH? I don't wanna have it just laying there since it could pretty easily get moved around, and tape is obviously a no-no. It also can't really go under the vinyl or the tile would have a weird bulge and not lay flat which may be an issue when it comes time to seal it. Hot gluing the probe to the top of the tiles could possibly work, but I'd have to find the really high melt temperature stuff...

[kitedemon]

I'd hot glue it. Normal hot glue is fine it melts in the range of 250ºF and some over 300ºF if you enclosure gets anywhere near that you have bigger problems. Lay a good blob down squish the probe into it and then blob over the top. I like to smooth it a bit with a cold spoon.

[Trogdorpheus]

Thanks very much for your reply! I might try to get the higher temperature stuff anyway for peace of mind but its good to know that regular stuff will work.

Could I just put a blob of silicone down on it instead? I'll be using that for seams in the enclosure anyway, and that just occurred to me.

[kitedemon]

Yes you could, but get the aquarium safe stuff just to be sure (some silicone for household use has anti fungals and such that make it toxic in an enclosed space) it also takes a few days to cure. Use your nose come in from outside and give the blob a snif and see if it smells at all if it does wait longer.

Hot melt is non toxic and inert I have used it in spots that get much hotter than you will see with snake enclosures with no problems. The package on my glue sticks says the working temps range is -10ºF to 160ºF my UTH maxes at 150ºF so in my case it will never get hotter than the working temp of the glue. If you can get it Bostik Thermogrip 6305 is rated to 335ºF-360ºf at full strength we use it at work sometimes but the gun is special too.

[Trogdorpheus]

Thanks for the help!