Re: Vivarium Electronics VE-100 vs Ranco ETC-111000 Pre Wired vs Johnson Controls The
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kitedemon
There is always a chance of failure with any unit I have had a herpstat pro fail the relay system Dion uses is very good but doesn't cover Triac or controller chip failure. Mine was a main chip failure very rare but... A failsafe is always a good idea and IMO should be a part of any and every system probes can always be pulled off and that is far more common than any unit failure. Proportional units can fail on or off same for on off units. It depends on the type and location of failure. For example a herpstat fails at the probe socket (like it got pulled) the unit will shut down.
The Pro did not have a relay. The new Herpstat 4 does and does protect against a triac failure. Thats one of its best features. Its like having that extra backup thermostat built in without the big cost of another full thermostat unit. It protects all four outlets since its on the main supply line. This is the direction we are heading as a company. We have some new models I'm working on and they will include this feature as well. While we still will offer some basic units without it to cut costs our main line will have the relay backup as a standard. There will be both single and dual output models coming shortly with the feature.
Now if the main cpu chip fails in any thermostat your either one of the unlucky .01% who had a manufacturing defect in the chip or you got a spike that took it out. If it was spiked then there is a good chance your backup inline also took the spike and could fail too. Again, its the backup for a backup for a backup. You could chase the what-ifs for a long time.
Dion Brewington
Spyder Robotics
