Hefty Tub Heating Issue

[amrakweno]

I am going to be getting a BP in the near future, well once I get this housing all dialed in as far as heat and humidity. So I bought a I believe 31 or 34 quart Hefty tub from Lowes. I have a 12x8 (medium) zoo med repti therm UTH. I sadly took off the adhesive before I saw some post warranting not removing it for future movement. So I put it on about a 1/3 of the tub and covered it all up with A/C tape ( foil tape) at first I have just outlined the outsides of it and my tank was getting to appx 80 and that was with me turning my Jump Start up to over 100 degrees. So I said to myself oh well im letting heat out of the bottom so I will cover the entire thing with the tape. Doing so raised my temperature about 3 to 4 degrees. I have the Jump Start probe taped about a 1/2 inch from the UTH on the outside. I have been adding more holes as I go for humidity adjustment. I have not lost any of my heat due to adding more holes for humidity. Im using a Qooltek Super Wireless Thermo and humidity detector along side with Zoo Med Economy analog dual Thermo and Humidity gauges. The Qooltek I cut out a square to clip it in the side of it near the top for ambient temps on warm side, and just have the zoo med over next to it on top of the substrate to see if they are close to one another as they are. Right now I have 64% humidity ( i need to add more holes I know) and my temp is 83.6 on Qooltek and about 85 on zoo med on top of substrate. My Jump Start is currently at 102. The only issue is my Jump Start is set to 104 and I cant get above 85 on my Qooltek. So I have either clearly bought the wrong "type" (Hefty) of tub or Im just crazy. This has been over the past 2 days i've been adding more holes lowering again my humidity which has dropped some as my temperature has not waivered due to adding holes. This tub is in my closet where nobody hardly every opens the door but maybe twice a day if that. I live in Oklahoma and this closet is right against the outside of my house and it was low 90's today with high humidity if anyone was curious. So I'm really not sure what in the world is happening. I have a AcuRite 00891A3 on its way and will be here on Thursday because I saw in an article on these forums that you should have Jump Start or whatever your thermostat is probe on the outside tub 1/2 inch from UTH. I originally had Jump Start probe under substrate but after I read that I moved it to the outside of the tank hence why im getting the AcuRite to monitor floor temp inside under substrate. So I have multiple means of temp gauge and they are pretty close together but my UTH has to be cranked up to 104 and it isnt getting past 84 degrees. I can take pics tomorrow if anyone is requesting them. http://www.lowes.com/pd/Hefty-34-Qua...ng-Lid/3341162 is the tub I purchase. Sorry for the gibberish and thank everyone for their responses ahead of time.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Your thermostat probe should be between the heating source and enclosure.
What are you using to measure the 84 degrees and were is the location you are getting it from?

[amrakweno]

The 84 im gettin from my Qooltek that I cut a hole in my tub its higher on the tub as to account for warm side ambient temps. I had my analog zoo med dual thermo/humidity gauge sitting next to Qooltek on substrate bed as it read a couple degrees warmer than the Qooltek. When I get home I will attempt to peel back my UTH enough to get Thermostat probe in between it. Im assuming if I get it peeled back enough to get the probe fully under it and then foil tape it fully enclosed it will be fine ? Just for perspective I lowered my thermostat last night before bed to 92 as I wouldnt sleep well if I had my Jump Start set to 104 . I woke up this morning to 62 % humidity ( I know I still need more holes) and my temp on Qooltek was 80.0. I will be receiving my AcuRite tomorrow for inside under substrate temps. Again thanks ahead of time for any and all opinions / help.

[amrakweno]

Ok made it home and move jump start probe , pulled some tape off pulled back some of Uth and stuffed probe in there and then taped it all back enclosed. My temp on probe went instantly from around 92 to about 111. So I'll give it a couple hours and go check my temperature. I put analog zoo med right near bottom of tub to hopefully get as accurate as the zoo med will give me until I get my acurite with probe tomorrow.

[amrakweno]

Update for all that are tied to the edge of their seat lol... My jumpstart is right now 99.8 the Qooltek says it is 64% humidity & 80.6 temp my cheap analog dual zoo med gauge right next to bottom of tank on the warm side very near Qooltek says 87 degrees and 50% humidity. Jump start is set to 102 and just went back in there and it said it was 103.1. I did move my probe to under the tub between tub and UTH and it is securly taped and sealed with UTH with Foil tape. I guess I will know a little more when I get home from work tomorrow with my AcuRite when I can put the body of it over on the cool side and probe under substrate . I was also informed to get a Infra-Red gun to assist with all facets of heat with reptiles. Here are a couple pics. , I see they are showing up as broken images but if you right click ( or at least for me ) and open image in new tab they open for me.

[amrakweno]

OK I have my Acurite body on the cool side the probe against the plastic right on the bottom of tub above UTH under substrate. My Settings are as follows Jump Start is set to 94.0 and not heating currently Qooltek mounted near lid on warm side is as follows. 79.8 and 63% humidity. Analog dual on cool side near lid is 64% and 80.0. My Acurite is as follows 96.3 probe (under substrate on bottom directly above UTH) (its a little high cause I had my Jump start cranked up to 108 and backed it down when I saw my Infrared gun show my plastic @ 111 inside above UTH), 78.4 for body of Acurite which is laid against plastic right next to dual analog on cool side. I bought a General IRT207 Infrared Thermometer and I get the following measurements. Top of substrate above UTH is 80.4 and 81.0 , Bottom of plastic above UTH showed to be 93.2 and 94 which correlates to my jump start 94.0 The bottom of my Large Exo Terra Snake Cave is 80.4 which is on top of UTH on top of substrate. ( should I set this on the UTH direct contact with plastic ? ) So overall I feel like my UTH and Jump Start are on the same page as to when I test plastic bottom by UTH its very close. So whats the move here ? I have about 15 different means of measuring temp and humidity lol and they all seem to kinda be low ? I mean I know I still need to get my humidity down to 50 or 55. I know my snake when I get him will not want to be on a warm side hide that the bottom is 80.0. If I could get that to about 92 then maybe all other temps will adjust themselves. So do I crank up the UTH to about 100 and hope the warm side hide gets to around 90 or 92 ? And then check other temperatures and see how they correlate. Please feel free to help me on my beginning journey of confusion setting up my snake home . Im just worried about getting it right for a few consistent days before I got get him. On top of that after I get them all stable I will be moving water bowl around (currently furthest away from everything on cool side). So when my snake goes into shed I can assure myself that I can just move water bowl over to warm side to raise it to 60-70%. Thanks ahead of time!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Stop over complicating and I cannot find any information on what you are calling a Qooltec but you can probably throw it out too. View the image above that I posted and follow it. It really isnt that hard to set up propper heating.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Found the qooltek thermometer....... Does yours have the probe? If not you are only getting ambient temperatures...
The actual surface temperature of the floor of the tub is your main worry. You do not want it over 95 degrees.

[amrakweno]

Nope doesn't have the probe just getting ambient temps on warm side. So it seems my ambient temperature in the tank is going to be around 78-80 on both sides of the tank is that ok ? I have my jump start set to 94 just went and tested floor of hide and its now 88-91 since moving directly on the surface of the tub instead of on top of substrate. Bottom of tub is fine in tune with jump start. My humidity is 56 on Qooltek 73 on acurite and 60 on dual zoo med. Yes I'm over complicating it being a first time owner I wanted to be able to cross reference several different brands of thermometers and humidity gauges so I could find a happy medium on all of them and put my mind at ease that it is very close to what it needs to be. And yes my setup is just as your drawing is besides having a couple extra means of checking ambient temps and humidity on both sides of tank.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Yes your ambient is fine and all you need to worry about is the hottest surface your snake can touch. Yes they can burrow.