Proportional t-stat backup ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lord jackel

Great Explanation Jamie! :rockon:

---

Thanks but that is all Dion at Spyder Robotics. The man knows a lot about thermostats! Herpstats are an excellent product!

helix is also a good product! :D



vaughn

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kavmon

helix is also a good product! :D



vaughn

---

Nobody said they weren't! :P

i just got to show my support!


after all helix pays me extremely well to give them props and recommend them :rolleyes:

they will even drop ship, and not make me order the minimum quantity. :cool:

after i sell a million units, i get a free 1500 watt system!!:carrot:

ps, this is all a joke, just messin around, a little humor. please don't call helix or sue me!


vaughn

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kavmon

i just got to show my support!


after all helix pays me extremely well to give them props and recommend them :rolleyes:

they will even drop ship, and not make me order the minimum quantity. :cool:

after i sell a million units, i get a free 1500 watt system!!:carrot:


vaughn

---

I like it! I need to get paid for my opinion! :)

Helix drop ships for you? Awesome!! :sunny:

I was neither promoting, or demoting one T-Stat over the other - I've read the %'s of one or the other failing in on or off mode, and the %'s of them failing at all - These are both higher end T-Stats, and with the name and price you pay, they can still fail.


As I posted above, the herpstat did fail on me, and was sent in for work, repaired, and sent back promptly - This was back in early FEB of this year, with only 4.5 months on the new T-Stat.

At that time, herpstats were "Not in stock".

So I had nothing to work with except for cheap stats, and ordered the helix - Which has worked fine from day one - The herpstat is working fine now as well.

What I'm suggesting is that, why back up with yet a 3rd on/off T-Stat such as the ranco or johnson -when I have 2 proportional thermostats, that can indepenently in and of themselves handle the wattage I'm looking for, and not be used in conjuntion with one-another .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kavmon

i personally wouldn't back up a proportional with another proportional! the voltage may vary to the stat and may cause some problems!! contact jeff at helix and dion at spyder robotics to see what they say. i would back up with a ranco. alot of controls need the proper voltage to work correctly and last longer.


vaughn

---

Here are the replies I've received - 1st from Jeff, secondly from Dion.

Hello, It is up to you, I would think a on/off or off/on thermostat would be more suited, as the DBS-1000 is digital. I imagine some people will have a back up for the back up too...Also my opinion is that a back up is needless overkill. In 9 years of using them and talking to thousands of customers big and small, The Helix DBS-1000 has proved extremely reliable. The only condition That a back up would be coming into play is if the DBS-1000 probe is moved away or left away from the heat source during cleaning. Or if multiple cages are used and the probe's heater is not super reliable, and failed. In this case you could have a back up with the probe in another cage incase the probe's heat source failed and the DBS-1000 probe could not see any heat.
The DBS-1000 system has safety failsafes built-in for every other condition.
I understand after people experience losses with cheaper under-par thermostats they need extra assurances, however unnecessary,That's understandable.
Thanks for thinking Helix, Jeff Washburn


Mike,

The Herpstat can be used as a backup thermostat if you do the following:

VERY IMPORTANT: Plug the Herpstat up by itself and follow the manual to set
it to NON-PROPORTIONAL MODE

Then set the Herpstat temperature a couple of degrees above your target
temperature that will be set on the proportional stat.

Then plug the proportional thermostat up to the output of the Herpstat and
attach the rest of it as normal.

Only a Herpstat proportional thermostat can be used as a backup thermostat.
Other proportional thermostats do not have non-proportional mode and can
cause damage if they dim while another thermostat is attached to their
output. Not sure if you saw my article on the website posted here:

http://www.spyderrobotics.com/support/failsafedocument.html

In my experiment I used a cheap sub $30 zoo med thermostat as the backup and
it worked great. The ranco/johnson controls is the "best" setup though
since they use a relay to control the AC the produce little to no heat from
their electronics. You can find those in the $50 range. All depends on how
much your trying to protect. If you have a $1000 plus animal an extra $50
worth of protection isn't a bad idea. :^)

-Dion