Need some help with thermostat placement...

Hello all.

New to the hobby. I was introduced by my brother to this hobby and now I'm totally addicted. I have a question regarding the placement of the thermostat probe. I've been reading that the probe should be placed in between the glass and the actual heat mat. Is this correct? So it should be glass, thermostat probe and then the heat mat? Like placed the thermostat probe sandwiched between the glass and heat mat? I had read that it was better inside buried in the bedding (substrate). Any help will be great. I was given wrong information I think at the reptile store I bought this at. He said to put the probe outside the heat mat. So he said glass, heat mat and then the thermostat probe taped outside. But the thermostat is not working properly. It turns off and on and I think it's not reading the proper heat. I got a real cheap thermometer from the store because it came as a package deal. But the temperature is not going over 70°. I have the heat mat connected directly right not to the wall without the thermostat until I can figure out the actual and proper way of doing it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

You are checking the temperature of the glass UNDER the substrate, correct?
A properly regulated UTH does little to nothing for ambient air temperature. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e961fd1cc5.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red357

Hello all.

New to the hobby. I was introduced by my brother to this hobby and now I'm totally addicted. I have a question regarding the placement of the thermostat probe. I've been reading that the probe should be placed in between the glass and the actual heat mat. Is this correct? So it should be glass, thermostat probe and then the heat mat? Like placed the thermostat probe sandwiched between the glass and heat mat? I had read that it was better inside buried in the bedding (substrate). Any help will be great. I was given wrong information I think at the reptile store I bought this at. He said to put the probe outside the heat mat. So he said glass, heat mat and then the thermostat probe taped outside. But the thermostat is not working properly. It turns off and on and I think it's not reading the proper heat. I got a real cheap thermometer from the store because it came as a package deal. But the temperature is not going over 70°. I have the heat mat connected directly right not to the wall without the thermostat until I can figure out the actual and proper way of doing it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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If that 70 degrees you're talking about is ambient temp, then you should seat while you wait because it will never get hotter. Heat mats do not heat up air around enclosure.

Edit: Plug the heat mat back into the thermostat, Do Not use it without a Thermostat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickyNY

If that 70 degrees you're talking about is ambient temp, then you should seat while you wait because it will never get hotter. Heat mats do not heat up air around enclosure.

Edit: Plug the heat mat back into the thermostat, Do Not use it without a Thermostat.

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The only thing is that I made the mistake of taping the thermostat probe on the outside of the heat mat. On the non sticky side in other words. I think the store employee gave me wrong information. The thermostats probe needs to be on the sticky side of the heat mat and glass, correct?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

You are checking the temperature of the glass UNDER the substrate, correct?
A properly regulated UTH does little to nothing for ambient air temperature. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e961fd1cc5.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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So the thermostat probe does go sandwich in between the glass and mat?

Its doesn't have to but is best.
You need to know what the inside glass temperature is and then adjust the thermostat from there.

An alternative that works well if you have a mat already stuck on is to set the whole enclosure over a piece of 1/2" hard foam insulation (like the pink stuff at the hardware store). Carve a groove in it for the probe where the mat is and place everything on top.

This will hold the probe to the mat and insulate so the probe isn't reading your room air temp and is only seeing the heat mat temp.

Order of preference is between glass and mat, then below the mat outside the tank with insulation, and last/not preferred at all, in the tank.

Peeling them off to sandwich the probe can cause internal damage to the mat, so if you want to avoid replacing the mat, that's what I'd do.

I've been running 2 glass tanks like that (for a sand boa and a leopard gecko) for the last year+ and it works well for me.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Red357

The only thing is that I made the mistake of taping the thermostat probe on the outside of the heat mat. On the non sticky side in other words. I think the store employee gave me wrong information. The thermostats probe needs to be on the sticky side of the heat mat and glass, correct?

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Most people and probably the best way is to put the probe between the glass and heat pad. But some have put it on the other side the non sticky side between the pad and the table. The main thing is to get the pad tight against the glass and the probe needs to be tight against the pad no matter which side it is on. Then you need to have a infra-red thermometer to get the temp of the glass. Don't worry about the temp of the substrate, just the glass temp. Set the thermostat to get the right glass temp. I'd say (85-90) glass temp. which you will measure using an infrared thermometer. Give it time to get stabilized.

(Below) is the compact type I bought at Petsmart years ago. It still works great. But there are also gun type you can buy at hardware supply stores.

-------> https://www.ebay.com/p/National-Geog...4733758&chn=ps

After you get your hot spot right then you have to get your ambient temp correct. And that's another big subject.

I have mine on the outside of the mat and I use styrofoam to hold it in place. Ideally it goes between the mat and the glass.

Here is my tutorial on styrofoam if needed.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ferrerid=68955