Hydrofarm questions

I picked up 3 of the hydrofarm digital thermostats new in package at an auction. I have a few questions for those who have used them.

1. How much variance do you have between temps? For example I set each to 90 and they vary from 88.5 to 91.5.

2. With these being an on/off style if they fail do they fail on or off?

3. How long have you been using them?

I have my rack on a herp stat 2 but when I saw these I had to get them (around $7 each).

I am using two on my dubia colonies and the third one was going to be used for my incubator for the upcoming breeding season but with the variance I am not sure if I will use it for that.

Thanks
Willis

1. Hydrofarms are extremely inaccurate. On/off thermostat's Have what is called a swing temp. They have to fall below the swing temp before turning back on again. To be honest your temps are actually pretty good for a hydrofarm.

2. It can go either way

3. I have one that I use for heating up rodents in a hot box. I've had it for about 2 years now.

They will be fine for your roaches, but you CANNOT use one on an incubator. You want one of these:

http://spyderrobotics.com/products/h...introPLUS.html

I have had a hydrofarm fail on me, and it lost it'd heating ability. So, it more than likely will fail and not heat at all.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

I have had a hydrofarm fail on me, and it lost it'd heating ability. So, it more than likely will fail and not heat at all.

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It depends on what part fails. If the control circuit fails it can get stuck either way. If the relay itself fails it will very likely fail in the off position.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

They will be fine for your roaches, but you CANNOT use one on an incubator. You want one of these:

http://spyderrobotics.com/products/h...introPLUS.html

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I was thinking the same thing when I saw the swings in temps.

I will probably just plug the incubator into the 2nd port on the herpstat 2.

Would rather have one fail in the off position then on in my opinion.

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

It depends on what part fails. If the control circuit fails it can get stuck either way. If the relay itself fails it will very likely fail in the off position.

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I'm not much in the anatomy of machines, so I'll believe you haha.

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I'd honestly recommend spending a bit more and getting a more reliable thermostat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neal

I'd honestly recommend spending a bit more and getting a more reliable thermostat.

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I have a herpstat 2 on my rack.

These were picked up for my roaches with the 3rd being for the incubator which will now be plugged into the other port on the herpstat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elusive Dream

I have a herpstat 2 on my rack.

These were picked up for my roaches with the 3rd being for the incubator which will now be plugged into the other port on the herpstat.

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Ah. I just got my herpstat in the other day. I love it versus the Vivarium Electronics.

I've got a hydrofarm on my ball pythons heat mat and it doesn't really fluctuate all that bad. I have it set to 90 and the lowest it gets is like 87. I've had it for about a year now and have had absolutely no issues with it. That being said I may be a newbie to all this, but I agree with everyone else I would NEVER use one on an incubator. I plan on getting a better thermostat in the future most likely a herpstat when my collection starts to grow. But as far as the cheap thermostats go I say the hydros are probably the best one out there.