Back up thermostat is a MUST!! learn from my mistake

Rather have it too cool dont you think? BP's can handle some 70 degrees for a few until you get home and find it. On the other hand, they cant handle a fire.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Rather have it too cool dont you think? BP's can handle some 70 degrees for a few until you get home and find it. On the other hand, they cant handle a fire.

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Well, that requires risk assessment on the part of the owner... Is the probe coming loose more or less likely to happen than a thermostat failing and shutting down, and in such an event, what will the temperatures in the rack do given the surrounding environment.

I understand what you're saying Jeff. If one tstat fails, IE dies completely, not just probe failure, then the flexwatt isn't going to get power anyway because it can't get through the dead tstat. Yes?

I understand the use of a back-up in the case of probe failure, but when I have had probes fail on my Herpstat 2, the unit shut the power off to that half of the thermostat and definitely told me about it.. At 3am.. Loudly.

Do Johnson Controls or Rancos shut themselves off in the case of probe failure?

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

If one tstat fails, IE dies completely, not just probe failure, then the flexwatt isn't going to get power anyway because it can't get through the dead tstat.

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Right, and because the power is being cut off to it, it won't be able to alarm about the failure (no power = no buzzer).

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Do Johnson Controls or Rancos shut themselves off in the case of probe failure?

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It would also be interesting to know what constitutes a "probe failure" for each manufacturer (ie. a short or circuit break). In this case, the probe didn't fail, but wasn't measuring the heat in the correct location, so the thermostat was compensating for what it thought was a low temperature.

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Well, that requires risk assessment on the part of the owner... Is the probe coming loose more or less likely to happen than a thermostat failing and shutting down, and in such an event, what will the temperatures in the rack do given the surrounding environment.

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Well, for me, either way I'd much rather have it just shut off the heat tape. My snake room doesnt get that cold. It's always around 80-82. For a while we didnt even use the heat tape, my room was very warm.

In the event that the primary thermostat fails and shuts down, regardless, the second one isn't going to fry them.


I'm more worried about a fire and losing my home and on top of that my snakes.

If I were to get some sick snakes from the thermostat shutting down, I'd be blessed.

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Yes, but that way, if either the Ranco or the Herpstat fails, your rack won't be heated at all -- not really a "backup" as much as a kill-switch. The question becomes whether the risk of a probe being jostled loose is greater than that of a thermostat failing, because either setup incurs risk.

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Yeah, but as was already stated, they can handle cooler temps. So if either one failed, the heat tape gets turned off. I'd rather this happen than a fire or 115+ degree tubs.

With any set up there is going to be some inherent risk. But we do what we can to minimize it. If what happened to me happened while I was out of town or something, I probably would have fried all my ball pythons; I would have rather had the whole system shut down, and the bps spend a few days at 80 degrees.

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Yeah, but it would have only shut off the backup unit if they were wired in parallel (leaving the primary unit to over-heat the tape). If they are wired in series, then the failure of either unit (ie. one dies and goes dark), would cause the rack not to heat at all.

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If the backup comes off the flexxwatt it will ready 78 degrees or whatever your room temp is at, so it won't shut off. If the primary comes off it will turn the heat tape on full bore which should tell the backup to kick in and cut power. Yes, wire them in series.

If they both come off then you are in the same boat is if just one came off, but taping them separately should result in this happening with almost 0 probability.

JonV

Backups are definitely neccesary.

I had a failure about 6 months ago and lost three 2006 females. I run ranco backups on everything now.

As a side note you should also have a backup on your incubator. This is sometimes overlooked.

Great to hear everything was ok and you are all the wiser!

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Originally Posted by nathanledet

What are you using to secure it in place?

I found that Electrical tape is notorious for coming undone. I tried some of that foil tape and that stuff STICKS!!!

Well, glad to hear your collection is doing OK.

How exactly are you wiring your other t-stat as a backup? set it a few degrees higher than the herpstat? and then plug the herpstat into the Ranco?

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I agree, foil tape is the stickest around!!

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Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

If the primary comes off it will turn the heat tape on full bore which should tell the backup to kick in and cut power. Yes, wire them in series.

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The question now is, since an actual failure of either thermostat would kill power to the rack completely, is it really a backup, or just a dead-man's switch ;)