surface temp and ambient temp in a rack...

well i finally setup my rack system and its great but i have a little concern about the temperatures inside the tubs.

i have cb-70 style tubs, stacked nine high, heated by 11" heat tape and the room is heated by an oil filled heater at 80 deg F. the thermostat probe is placed directly on the 4th high from the ground flexwatt and is set at 93 degrees.

i have thermometer probes taped directly over the heat tape on the inside of the tubs and i also have thermometers on the newspaper on the warm and cold side. (testing purposes)

the probes taped directly to the bottom of the tubs(underneath the newspaper) read around 95-96(i know too hot) and the thermometers that are placed above the newspaper reads 82-83 degrees. the cool side temp is good at 80-82.

does this mean that when the snake is in its hide on the hot side of the tub it is feeling ambient temps of 82-83 and a surface temp of 95-96??

or does the newspaper act as an isulator and block all the surface heat??

how do you properly measure the temperatures and get them correct???

comments, opinions, suggestions please!

thanks!

what kind of thermostat? on the stat the probe is taped directly to the flexwatt? the thermostat is set to 93, and the temps inside the tub are hotter? like 95,96?? some pics would help a bit.



vaughn

i have a herpstat ND hooked up to 11" flexwatt. the stat probe is taped directly on the flexwatt. im not home now but ill try to get some pics up tomorrow or the next day.


but how do the temperatures compare to other racks. if the probe of the thermometer that is taped to the bottom of the tubs reads 96 and the probe of the thermometer above the newspaper reads 83, does that mean when the snake sits on top of the heated area it is feeling 96 degrees on its belly and 83 in the air??

im a heat lamp/aquarium guy making the big switch so i need to know if this is how its supposed to work.

i would tape the herpstat probe directly on the flexwatt. this way you are controlling the temp of the flexwatt itself. in my racks, i set the stats between 92-94 this gives me around 90 on the warm end and the room temp is 80-82 deg.so that is the cool side temps. your tub temps shouldn't be hotter than the thermostat setting. i don't tape the accurite thermometers probes down, i just lay them in the back and take readings.



vaughn

my stat probe is taped directly on the flexwatt.

my thermometers that are on top of the paper only reads 82 though. thats what im trying to figure out.

do your thermometers that you lay back and take readings from read the same temp as the flexwatt or do they read a lower temp, like the ambient temp over the flexwatt?

they usually read lower temps, like the stat set on 94, my warm end temps are around 90. i have 3 inch heat taped routed through the racks. i take the reading on the bottom of the tub, not on top of the paper.



vaughn

sorry if im being difficult i just need to figure this out. thanks a lot for taking the time to help me i really appreciate it.

ok so your temp reading from the bottom of the tub is 90 degrees but what is your air temperature?

is it 90 aswell or is 90 just the hot spot temp on the bottom of the tub?

i just worry about the floor tub temps. 99.5% of the time they are on the floor, one or two might hang out on top of the hidebox, for a few.



vaughn

ok so i figure that if your temp is 92 on the bottom of the tub then the snake is sitting on 92 degrees F and that is good enough to allow the snake to thermoregulate as long as the space heater heats up the opposite side of the tub to proper temps.

am i right vaughn?

yes , you got it.




vaughn