BAH-1000SC vs Reptitemp 500r

http://reptilebasics.com/Thermostats-p-1-c-250.html

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Originally Posted by travy4911

Don't know if it changes things but she's in a glass aquarium. Does that make any one better than any other?

edit: guess I should have asked this first....is there a johnson or ranco around 40 or 50 dollars shipped?

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.....check out ebay,there's always a bunch on there.have fun!

If you can't afford a Jonson or Ranco, Either of the two thermostats you mentioned would be sufficient until you can.

If you get the (much cheaper) unwired Ranco, it's very easy to buy an inexpensive orange extension cord and wire it yourself. I consider myself to not be very handy at all, and I managed to do it just fine (I also brew beer, and precise temp control is pretty important there, too). Just be sure to use a decent extension cord for the wiring, and not one of the cheap white ones you might use around the house.

Here's a link to the instructions I used, very simple.

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=40898

Where can I pick one of these up?

Reptile basics has them. They aren't a whole lot cheaper considering time and having to buy a powerstrip. If you can't afford the $80 for the t-stat then just buy the reptitemp one, go to lowes/home depot/walmart and buy a $10 light dimmer cord.

Plug the dimmer into the output of the tstat, set the tstat temp all the way up and slowly adjust the dimmer until the temps in the tank are around 95-98 degrees on the hot side. Wait 20-30min between adjustments. When you get a constant temp bring the tstat temp down to where you want it. If the tstat ever fails the light dimmer won't let the temps rise to a really harmful temp.

That aside, I would suggest a herpstat as well because of the ease of use and quality. I even have that on a light dimmer as well, anything can fail no matter how good it is.

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Originally Posted by DustinB

Reptile basics has them. They aren't a whole lot cheaper considering time and having to buy a powerstrip. If you can't afford the $80 for the t-stat then just buy the reptitemp one, go to lowes/home depot/walmart and buy a $10 light dimmer cord.

Plug the dimmer into the output of the tstat, set the tstat temp all the way up and slowly adjust the dimmer until the temps in the tank are around 95-98 degrees on the hot side. Wait 20-30min between adjustments. When you get a constant temp bring the tstat temp down to where you want it. If the tstat ever fails the light dimmer won't let the temps rise to a really harmful temp.

That aside, I would suggest a herpstat as well because of the ease of use and quality. I even have that on a light dimmer as well, anything can fail no matter how good it is.

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That seems like a good idea.

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Originally Posted by DustinB

Reptile basics has them. They aren't a whole lot cheaper considering time and having to buy a powerstrip. If you can't afford the $80 for the t-stat then just buy the reptitemp one, go to lowes/home depot/walmart and buy a $10 light dimmer cord.

Plug the dimmer into the output of the tstat, set the tstat temp all the way up and slowly adjust the dimmer until the temps in the tank are around 95-98 degrees on the hot side. Wait 20-30min between adjustments. When you get a constant temp bring the tstat temp down to where you want it. If the tstat ever fails the light dimmer won't let the temps rise to a really harmful temp.

That aside, I would suggest a herpstat as well because of the ease of use and quality. I even have that on a light dimmer as well, anything can fail no matter how good it is.

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You know I have wondered for a while how to back up the tstat with a dimmer and I understood how to hook it up but not quite how to set it up after that. Do you do the same with the herpstat? Just put the herpstat to a ridiculously high temp and dial down the dimmer?

Well you can do it two ways really. Either plug it into the tstat and set the tstat really high, or just hook up the light dimmer alone and bring the temp up. Then plug the tstat in and the light dimmer into the tstat.

I think you could get your temps right on the dimmer, and then set your thermostat to that temp also, that way if either one failed, your temps wouldn't be affected.