Temp Fluctuations/Inconsistencies Help

So we have a home built rack made of melamine with belly heat tape hooked up to a nice $200 thermometer. We have the probe taped down in a "dummy" tub underneath the substrate and underneath a hide, as all of the tubs have hides in them. Basically we try to have the probe in the most similar spot as to what the environment is like for all the tubs in the rack.

We have crazy variation throughout the rack when it comes to temperature. For instance, the heat gun is reading the probe tub to be 90 degrees on the hotspot, which is what he have the thermostat set to. I'll go to another tub, and its reading 95 degrees under the hide on the hot spot. 93 in another, 88 in another, etc. Really frustrating when we're trying to make these tubs identical and all the hotspots are different degrees up to a dangerous heat. Could more holes in different tubs be affecting the temp so much?

How high is the rack? The ambient room temp can fluctuate that much from the floor to the ceiling. Perhaps putting the probe on the top, set it at 93 and the bottom tubs will go to a low of 88?

More holes will affect the temps. I suggest putting the tubs with more holes in the middle of the rack, perhaps just below the top one? Anybody with more experience think this sounds good?

You don't want the probe in a tub. You want it directly up against the heat tape so that its directly measuring the heat coming off of the tape. Do you have one solid piece of flexwatt or multiples?

Youre going to have fluctuations in temps between tubs on the top and bottom. When I had a melamine rack my middle tub was at around 89, four rows up was 93, bottom tub was around 87.

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

You don't want the probe in a tub. You want it directly up against the heat tape so that its directly measuring the heat coming off of the tape. Do you have one solid piece of flexwatt or multiples?

Youre going to have fluctuations in temps between tubs on the top and bottom. When I had a melamine rack my middle tub was at around 89, four rows up was 93, bottom tub was around 87.

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It's one solid strip of heat tape. It looks like the middle is the hottest, surprisingly not the top. Our rack is only about four feet high. I suggested to my partner taping the probe to the tape and trying that instead. Thought about moving the tub to the top of the rack or to the middle (it's fourth from top right now, with 6 rows total).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Monty's_Mom

How high is the rack? The ambient room temp can fluctuate that much from the floor to the ceiling. Perhaps putting the probe on the top, set it at 93 and the bottom tubs will go to a low of 88?

More holes will affect the temps. I suggest putting the tubs with more holes in the middle of the rack, perhaps just below the top one? Anybody with more experience think this sounds good?

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Think we're gonna try something like this. Maybe put the probe directly on the tape instead.

The shape of the bottom of the tub can also make a difference, especially if it is bowed away from the tape so as to allow more air flow under it. When your snake lies on that spot it may push the tub closer to the heat tape.