Thermostat Brands

[ThyTempest]

I will be setting up a 29G glass tank in a couple of weeks for a rescue bp. I forgot all about the for sale/trade forum, and I am thinking about picking up a used thermostat if I can find a good price. I know herpstat and helix are the most common, as far as I can tell, but are ranco and johnson just as reliable? I'm not that familiar with the differences between the brands, and I have done multiple searches and have not been able to find much. Looking to see if there is a preferred brand overall, or if on a budget, the cheap johnson or ranco tstats are reliable too? (I dont have a tempgun, will be running 2x acurites.)

[starmom]

They are not as reliable as a Helix or Herpstat but people use them. I suppose if I used one I would also want a reliable temp gun to really be able to set it to the actual temp and not what the temp read-out is telling me

[ThyTempest]

From what I have heard on the forums, a cheap tempgun is no better, or maybe even worse, than the ever popular acurite thermo/hygro. Eventually, I will buy a nice tempgun, but right now, im a poor college kid, so acurites will have to do. If i can get a good deal on a herpstat i will buy it, but if not, then I am going to just go with dimmers.

Sound good?

[starmom]

From one poor college kid to the ears of a poor grad student: if you bought a pet, you need the equipment for that pet.
I got this temp gun: http://www.reptilebasics.com/412L-No...e-p-16288.html
It is very good and accurate. If you use this, you can buy the less reliable thermostat.
You also need an Accurite to measure humidity and give you a glance at the temps on the glass.

[Gloryhound]

The Ranco and Johnson are ON/OFF Thermostats. That means no power is put to the heating element when the probe temp is above the set point and full power is put to the heating element when the probe reads below the set point.

Helix and Herpstats are proportional controllers. They attempt to supply only the power that is needed to maintain a given temp. May only average 20% power or it may average more. They keep the temps generally a lot more steady!

[TheHabit]

what are everyone's thoughts on ZooMed?

[ThyTempest]

Ahhh, I didnt realize that Johnson and Ranco were on/off. Thanks for the advice.

[dsirkle]

It is my unlearned opinion that it is not correct to say that Ranco or Johnson thermostats are not as reliable as a Herpstat or Helix. A proportional thermostat should hold temps rock steady while a Johnson or Ranco will let temperatures fluctuate a couple of degrees which is no problem at all. They are quite reliable. A young man has for sale on this site a used Ranco wired up by Reptile Basics for $55 shipped. Any of these would be a better choice than Zoo Med, but even that will do for a while if that is all you have.

[Theely]

I'm currently using a ZooMed and I'm having no problem. It took a night of adjusting it and watching the temps but now that its done it keeps within the a few degrees of the temp probably +/-3.

I don't think thats to bad for the price.

[dalvers63]

I have a Ranco, a couple of Helix and a Herpstat. All of them work perfectly.

If you are using lights to heat the cage, I'd suggest the proportional (helix, herpstat) thermostats as your lights will last longer. It's not as hard on them to dim as it is to shut on and off.

If you're using heat tape/flexwatt/etc, there is nothing wrong with the Ranco. I am using mine to regulate all of my ball pythons in two racks and it works perfectly. I have had no problems with it at all and it keeps the temps pretty rock solid (within a degree of the set temp) and has been running like this for a year.

I would advise against the zoo-med thermostats, only because in all the failures I've read about they tend to fail ON, which can be a big problem if you don't notice it soon enough. Sure, they will work great up 'til that point.....