What cheap thermostat do you recommend?

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Originally Posted by fangznthangz

Warning!!! When you use any thermostat with flexwatt, please note that you will need to tape the reader under the substrate of your choice on the inside of the tub where the heat tape lays. I have always stuck the temp therm. in the middle cage with my snakes. Then one day I smelled burning plastic! The reader was on the cool side of the cage (just from opening and closing it) and so it was trying to heat up the cold side. I have some very nice thermostats and they were not cheap. So just please keep this in mind when you are plugging everything in. I just put it in the middle cage of my rack, tape it right under the substrate, on top of where the flexwatt meets under the tub. Since I have been doing that, no stinky smell and no little burn hole! Oh and make sure empty slots at least have empty totes in them. That can affect the thermostats temp. reading.

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tape the probe to flexxwatt and buy a digital thermometer for the inside of the tub. Its safer and this will never happen to you. You will have to set your thermostat higher to get the desired temp in the tub but thats okay. Also never use tape in your snakes enclosure. Tape = serious injury for scaled critters. Even if its under the substrate - BP's like to burrow and can get hurt.

Cheers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fangznthangz

Warning!!! When you use any thermostat with flexwatt, please note that you will need to tape the reader under the substrate of your choice on the inside of the tub where the heat tape lays. I have always stuck the temp therm. in the middle cage with my snakes. Then one day I smelled burning plastic! The reader was on the cool side of the cage (just from opening and closing it) and so it was trying to heat up the cold side. I have some very nice thermostats and they were not cheap. So just please keep this in mind when you are plugging everything in. I just put it in the middle cage of my rack, tape it right under the substrate, on top of where the flexwatt meets under the tub. Since I have been doing that, no stinky smell and no little burn hole! Oh and make sure empty slots at least have empty totes in them. That can affect the thermostats temp. reading.

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the reader? are you talking about the probe? the probe should be directly on the flexwatt where the tub will not slide and knock off the probe. not inside your tub. don't try to control a tub temp with the probe. control the temp of your flexwatt. use a temp gun to see the hot spot temp of the tub.

edit: was responsing at the same time as the above post. I agree with decensored

Since you posted this thread twice I will post my response twice, haha.

I'm going to go against the grain here.

I use Ranco or Johnsons for the most part, I don't find the herpstats or helix thermostats worth the money. I have been using a number of different thermostats through out the almost 7 years of keeping snakes to find what works for me. I also use the A-life and Zoo-Med repti-temp thermostats. I bought the zoo-med as my first one 7 years ago. Today I use it to control my ambient temps on one of my racks. I have had zero issues with temperature control.

With all of the thermostats mentioned above I think it is more important to have a quality temp gun that you can check your hot and cool spots every other day if not daily. Every thermostat can malfunction no matter how much money you spend on it.

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Originally Posted by eel588

Since you posted this thread twice I will post my response twice, haha.

I'm going to go against the grain here.

I use Ranco or Johnsons for the most part, I don't find the herpstats or helix thermostats worth the money. I have been using a number of different thermostats through out the almost 7 years of keeping snakes to find what works for me. I also use the A-life and Zoo-Med repti-temp thermostats. I bought the zoo-med as my first one 7 years ago. Today I use it to control my ambient temps on one of my racks. I have had zero issues with temperature control.

With all of the thermostats mentioned above I think it is more important to have a quality temp gun that you can check your hot and cool spots every other day if not daily. Every thermostat can malfunction no matter how much money you spend on it.

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I agree with this 100%, but I feel the price of a helix or herpstat is well worth every penny with the investment that I have in my snakes. I also buy the high end dog food for my dog. my pets are well worth it.

I feed all of my animals the highest quality food I can, my cat gets feed Wellness indoor cat food. It costs me $21 for 5lbs compared to Purina for half that. I do my research. I do not feel I am degrading their environment what so ever by using the thermostats I use. Their temps are spot on, I know this by checking them daily. I rarely, almost never have to adjust. I enjoy this process of looking at each and every one of animals. Why would I change? It is all up to the individual. I can buy 2 or 3 Rancos for the price of a herpstat. I'd rather spend that money on nice racks and other female breeders.

It works for me, maybe not others.

I have a johnson control that you need to wiggle the wire to get it to work (cold solder joint) not a hard fix. I'm just not a big fan on the on-off thermostats. but the Zoo-Med repti-temp 500r, I had one go bad on me, never again. this is the one I'm mainly concerned with, read post with others who had problems with this one too. 7 years with no problems, you're one of the lucky ones. I've learned my lesson. I had reptiles well over 20 years. I hope you don't learn the hard way like me.

like you said any thermostat could fail. I'm planning of running 2 herpstats together. if one fails the other won't let the temps max out. one would be wired threw the other. and this will also be worth whatever the cost is to me.

The cheapest one that I recommend is a Ranco.

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Originally Posted by fangznthangz

Warning!!! When you use any thermostat with flexwatt, please note that you will need to tape the reader under the substrate of your choice on the inside of the tub where the heat tape lays.

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Uh, Warning! This is completely and totally wrong. Ask any profesional rack manufacturor and they will all tell you the same thing... the probe should be taped directly onto the flexwatt (heat tape) ONLY.

Why? In many racks if the flexwatt is allowed to get to full temperature for even a short period of time, It can melt / damage / destroy the rack.

Lets say one day during the winter your power cuts out. The room and rack temperature drops to 60 degrees. You have your probe in the tub and not on the flexwatt.

Power cuts back on and your thermostat turns the flexwatt on 100%. It is VERY possible that the flexwatt will be running at 100% long enough to melt / damage / destroy the rack before the inside of the tub gets to temperature.

The WORST place you can put the probe is inside the tub. What do you think will happen if the probe is damaged in some way by the snake? What if he somehow gets caught on it and loosens the connection while you are on vaction? What if he spills his entire fresh water bown on it causing it to fail as you head to work for the day? What if a rat you throw in there gets one bite on the cord in the 5 seconds it is in there prior to getting struck then you go to bed for the night having no way of knowing the probe isn't working any more?

You'll get differing opinions here as usual. The Hydrofarms work well for the price and is better than nothing at all. Know what your actual setpoint temp is and your good even with the +/- variation. Whether you choose expensive or cheap best have a backup in the system. Even the most expensive unit can fail. After all they are electronic...

A 3 degree variant is no big deal.

I tested a 3.5 foot section of Flexwatt - 3 inch, 6 watts per foot - and got up to 4 degrees variants both regulated by a thermostat and unregulated - plugged directly into the wall. Flexwatt temps vary along the same strip, so I am never surprised when people get different readings with thermostats - unless they are placing the probe on the exact same place for each reading.

Heating is not an exact science, and the snakes are going to be fine with a 3 degree variant.

I have used the Hydrofarm with success as well.