the Zoo Med 500R thermostat

was thinking about get a couple for my glass cages, good-bad, ugly?? My cousin uses them for his corns/milks and said the were alright, what do you all think??

Do a little research on them on the forum.

The track history they have isn't good.

Go with a Ranco or Johnson Controls, better yet go Proportional.

In my opinion, they're a 35 dollar piece of junk.

dang, alright, i was trying to get somthing descent priced, but temps, are the most important to me

also can i ran all of my bps UTh on the ranco.

I'm not sure what other people are saying about the 500R, but I've used one for almost 2 years without any problems. I used it on a 40 gallon breeder cage without any issues. I'm now using it on my incubator. Only thing I don't like is it doesn't have a digital readout. Just make sure you have a few digital temp gauges to see where your temp is at.

I also have a helix and ranco, which are a 100x better, but for a tank the 500R works just fine.

I'm using two 500R's and love them. They don't have a digital read out, but that's fine. Nothing time and watching temps can't fix. So far, the only annoying thing about them is how the lights come on and off in the bedroom at night, lol.

I've been using one since July with no problem at all. Works well. :)

I have several 500R's that have worked great for almost 2 years.

well, my mom was asking some stuff for christmas,and since i got a 10% off coupon at reptilesupply, she was gonna get me one

A thermostat is not something you want to skimp on.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...rmostat+failed

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...mostat+failure

I use 4 of these in my room along with a Herpstat Pro. They are like 75 bucks and work GREAT.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...mostat+failure

If your going to use a rheostat thermostat just use a dimmer switch and when it goes out it cost like 3 bucks to put a new switch in.... not 25 to replace and the dimmer switch set up cost like 10 bucks to build. For the money I enjoy my ranco

2kdime, i just ordered a ranco, so its all good, i hope,

I hope I didn't come off as harsh man.

I've just seen too many people cook their animals with a cheap thermostat, and I always hate seeing that.

Thats why I always recommend to spend the little extra csh and get something with a better track record.

I think you'll be happy with it man.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BOWSER11788

2kdime, i just ordered a ranco, so its all good, i hope,

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I have great results with the 500R!

Ive been using the 500 r for a year now never have a problem with it. Holds temps pretty well for me.

not harsh at all, i'd rather have happy snakes, then cold-hot or DEAD, im not cheap but i do try to save some, i bought a zoomed dimmer when i first got my bp, and it sucked, so i switched to a nomral dimmer but my snakes are at my girl friends house and she know all about them, but we both go to collage, so its hectic to always, check the temp, and i wanted somthing more concrete, that i don't have to adjust every hour

also 2kdime, seeing your number of post, i know YOU know what your talking about as well, so really thank you, not knocking others who say the 500 is good, cause aunt dont ordered that as well, so i'll have one if i ever need one

2kdime, I hate to disagree but I have only rarely heard of the reptitemp 500r failing. It fails just as often as a ranco or johnson controls. The first link isn't even refering to the reptitemp 500r thermostat.

I wouldn't just write off the reptitemp just because a few of them have failed in the past. I have also used one without any problems for about a year. They are good beginner thermostats, especially for ONE enclosure. If you are controlling anything more than one, get a better thermostat.

Oh hey no problem, thats what were here to do! Discuss!

Besides what I've heard of them failing in the past, and the fact that I'll NEVER use one, you really get what you pay for in this world.

For example, yeah Rancos and Johnson Controls CAN fail, but the rate they do is much lower than the subpar cheaper stats out there. For added peace of mind, all my Rancos are Double Rancos.

Herpstat Pro for example, a 4 way Proportional thermostat, CANT be backed up practically with the Rancos, but the quality that goes into them is superb. If they fail, they fail in the OFF position.

Your going to hear good and bad things about any product to be honest, but if my animals life depends on me spending a little extra to get a trusted piece of equipment then by all means I'm going to do it.

Whether that be for a 10 dollar normal Ball or a 10,000 dollar plus collection.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

2kdime, I hate to disagree but I have only rarely heard of the reptitemp 500r failing. It fails just as often as a ranco or johnson controls. The first link isn't even refering to the reptitemp 500r thermostat.

I wouldn't just write off the reptitemp just because a few of them have failed in the past. I have also used one without any problems for about a year. They are good beginner thermostats, especially for ONE enclosure. If you are controlling anything more than one, get a better thermostat.

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I agree, but telling people that reptitemps fail all the time and that ranco and johnsons never do is innaccurate. I hear about each of them failing equally. Usually most problems stem from user errors.

If you have a normal ball python and need to regulate a UTH, a reptitemp is better than a dimmer which is better than nothing.

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!!

Quote:

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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.

Quote:

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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.