thermostat help

a419 johnson thermostat that is maxing out at 81 degrees. I have the sf set up to 90 degrees and it stays at 81-82 i have the probe sitting on top of my eco earth that i have in the tub I also have like an inch and a half of substrate in the tank. do you think that the substrate could be interfering? Im just kind of pissed off and dont know what else todo I know to some of you this could be a no brainer but I need to have my rack temps perfect for my new babys next week. thank you Brandon

If i were you, just to narrow down the issue, plug in a lamp to see if the plug actually works, since i know my room temps could be 81 or 82. Also i would go ahead and put the probe on top of the UTH exactly to see if it can raise the temps any higher.

In the end it could always be a defective unit, or some wiring might have gotten moved around inside.

word, ya man im in nor cal so 80-82 room temps are far from reality but thank you for the help. i will try and and put the probe on the plastic above the uth. but am i using the right setting for monitoring and controling heat?

What is the differential set at? The johnsons work by turning the power on and off to regulate temps. Basically you have a set point and the differential. The thermostat turns the power on till the temp reaches the set point then off again until the temp drops to a certain point. So if your set point is 90 and your differential is 5 degrees (just making this up as an example), the thermostat would turn the power on until the temp reaches 90, then off until the temp drops to 85.

I'd recommend setting the set point to slightly higher than the hotspot temp you want with a differential of 2 degrees if you want the hotspot at 90. I'd also put the probe directly on the UTH so you have better control.

Another possibility is that your heating element isn't powerful enough to heat your setup. What are you using for heat?

Hope this helps,
Shelly

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Originally Posted by LOSTCOAST_BALLZ

a419 johnson thermostat that is maxing out at 81 degrees. I have the sf set up to 90 degrees and it stays at 81-82 i have the probe sitting on top of my eco earth that i have in the tub I also have like an inch and a half of substrate in the tank. do you think that the substrate could be interfering? Im just kind of pissed off and dont know what else todo I know to some of you this could be a no brainer but I need to have my rack temps perfect for my new babys next week. thank you Brandon

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1) The probe goes directly on the heat source...
2) reduce the thickness of the substrate by about half...
3) Make sure the thermostat is in the "Heat" mode...
4) Make sure the differential temp is no more than "2"...

I have the 3 inch 10 watt flexwatt heat tape. I ended up digging out all the substrate below the hide so the snake is really sitting on the plastic to absorb the most heat. also I have the probe in a empty tub (substrate only) next to my tub to see what the temps are like and then checking my thermometer probe in the snake tub. if that makes sense I think i have the temps down but 85 degrees doesnt really feel warm in the tub lol.

also about firestorms post. can u explain that a lil more what shouldi do i feel like the heat isnt equally dispersed along the 4 ft strip it isnt very reassureing to think that as I thought my 4 ft tape could equally heat all 3 tubs. lol kind of frustrating. thank thank you for the responses . . .

I can't help you much with Flexwatt, I've never used it, but the reason you won't usually feel much heat from UTH or Flexwatt is because normally they are maintained around 90F or so and your body temp is normally around 98F...

friggin genius that makes sense, also whats ideal temp i think (85-90) is that accurate. I do feed them heavily like 1 a week maybe every 5-6 days should I increase my temps to like 90? if i continue this trend thank you I remember with dragons i had the temp to 120 in a couple enclosures because of the heavy feeding for metabolism and what not. input is welcomed :D

Low 90's are good hot spot temps