the Zoo Med 500R thermostat

I never said they fail all the time.

I never said that Rancos or JC never fail.

I just said you get what you pay for and it's better to go with something with a better track record.

The man asked for opinions on the thermostat in question, I gave mine:D

I'm pretty new to all this and find this discussion fascinating, but it brings up a question I've wondered about: I've heard of people using something like a Herpstat Pro to control the heat on 10 or more cages. How exactly would that work, since there's 4 probes on the box? I guess the broader question is, if I invest in something like a Herpstat Pro or other higher priced thermostat (Helix, Johnson, etc), would I be able to use it on more than one cage per output? That would definitely make the expense more palatable... Thx!!

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Originally Posted by diggityDawg

I'm pretty new to all this and find this discussion fascinating, but it brings up a question I've wondered about: I've heard of people using something like a Herpstat Pro to control the heat on 10 or more cages. How exactly would that work, since there's 4 probes on the box? I guess the broader question is, if I invest in something like a Herpstat Pro or other higher priced thermostat (Helix, Johnson, etc), would I be able to use it on more than one cage per output? That would definitely make the expense more palatable... Thx!!

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I can only speak for the Ranco. It comes with a 6 or 7 outlet power strip attached. Basically, you hook it up to one UTH and plug them all in, and it runs them all, based on the temp it gets from the one. The main thing would be to make sure that the combined wattage of your UTH's doesn't exceed the handling capability of your Thermostat. I believe the Ranco's are rated at 1200-1500 Watts and the average UTH, depending on size, runs between 8-25 watts. Hope this helps...


Rob

soory, hope i didn't start a feud.. orginally i was gonna get a 500 for eatch tank, at moment i have 4 tanks, now im moving to tubs. anyway, with the ranco i can control all right, the one i ordered came with a surge protector, so im assuming i can use all outlets.

As long as the heat sources are identical for each setup, same size flexwatt or UTHs, then you can use the same thermostat for all of them.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

As long as the heat sources are identical for each setup, same size flexwatt or UTHs, then you can use the same thermostat for all of them.

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Thanks Kaorte (and Vypyrz) - it definitely makes investing in one of these much easier to swallow knowing that I can use it to control heat in several enclosures at once.

Yeah these thermostats can be used on lots of enclosures.

Like Kaorte said, they need to be setup identically though.

For instance, say you calculate start up wattage pull on your heaters etc etc etc and you decide you dont want to run anymore than 1200w continuously off your Ranco at any given time.

In theory, if your running 2 feet of Flexwatt under every tub and each piece is 12w....

1200/12=120

So in theory, you could run 120 setups off that one Ranco. I'd run 1 continuous strip of Flexwatt in a situation like that though. You just have to know how many watts per foot and how many feet your using.

I do believe Jeff Ronne of the Boaphile talks a little bit about it here....towards the end. He talks about figuring in voltage drops and what not....

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/ther...ons.html#probe

I've got one myself. It's worked OK for me so far, I've had it for over two years, however I do know others who have had problems with them and don't really want to chance it with my snakes. I use it with my cockroach colony now.