house hold thermostat and flexwatt questions

How do you wire up a house hold thermostat (like a honey well) for use in an incubator. Also how can I wire up severa; peices of flex watt to use as belly heat in a rack system? I did search but I couldnt find much

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

How do you wire up a house hold thermostat (like a honey well) for use in an incubator. Also how can I wire up severa; peices of flex watt to use as belly heat in a rack system? I did search but I couldnt find much

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flexwatt wiring
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/flexwire.shtml

dont use a home theromstat use something like a ranco or herpstat

I know how to wire it up normaly but can I wire up several eather inline or off of 1 power wire.

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

I know how to wire it up normaly but can I wire up several eather inline or off of 1 power wire.

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my bad this link will help you

http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/Flexwatt_parallel.pdf

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Originally Posted by 771subliminal

my bad this link will help you

http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/Flexwatt_parallel.pdf

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That site explains it pretty good and there are some so-so videos on u-tube.

Hi,

How are you going to measure the temps inside the incubator with a home thermostat?

Can you buy and fit external probes or something?


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

How are you going to measure the temps inside the incubator with a home thermostat?

Can you buy and fit external probes or something?


dr del

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well thats why I was askin on here. I dont know for sure if it can be done but the ability to program the thermostat would be nice. I wanted to do somethink Like this http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml but I dont know.

Hi,

There are a few more threads on doing this so you should be able to find some good info.

I would recommend you use a dedicated reptile thermostat as they have probes already attatched and would be a lot easier to fit and replace etc.

There are a few types and brands available so I would look for some "which thermostat" threads to get a wide range of opinions on them to help you decide what you think would suit you best. :gj:


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

How are you going to measure the temps inside the incubator with a home thermostat?

Can you buy and fit external probes or something?


dr del

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If you put the home thermostat inside the incubator, it should work. I would suggest doing this WELL in advance of when you expect to need the incubator so you have time to work out any bugs that may pop up in your wiring.

My girls are no were near breeding size. I still have plenty of time.

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

well thats why I was askin on here. I dont know for sure if it can be done but the ability to program the thermostat would be nice. I wanted to do somethink Like this http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml but I dont know.

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http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat2.html

that thermostat is programable with ease

i'm by no means an electrician and someone correct me if i'm wrong. most of the themostats that you get like at walmart and places (like the honeywell) are a millivolt thermostat and will not work with 110v. the millivolt systems produce there own power off of a thermocupler from the piolet. you might have to go to like menards and get a themostat for a 110v baseboard heater they are only like 15 bucks or so. just my 2 cents, if there is an electician out there they might be able to shed some better light.


Eric

The household thermostat have relays (which is why you hear the click) when the heat comes on and off. Now I haven't looked in depth into it but most furnaces that I have seen have a transformer on them that step the voltage down which will run to the thermostat and back to the furnace. Although I believe the relay is powered by the batteries of the thermostat the relay will not handle the current for heating in most cases. You might get away with a small heat pad but it wouldn't be worth the time or risk in most cases. Then you are still stuck with the temp sensor inside the case so you would have to desolder it and wire it so it was in a appopriate spot to measure temp. Also household thermostats have a degree or better swing so you'd probably be better off just buying a inexpensive zoomed 500r. :) If you want better regulation you eventually have to move up to a proportional thermostat. ;)

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

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go with the herpstat youll be happier

I believe I would be happier too but its gonna come down to my cash flow at the time

household t-stats run on 24vac. i made a "reptile room temp controller" with a Honeywell stat, transformer, several relays, and wire.

I use a auto changeover stat that will kick on heat or ac(in the future) depending on the temperature of the room. yes temp swing is high around 3 degrees, I use a data logger to ensure room temps and make sure no faults are found. also has a fan switch as well as a hacked habba mist to run a 120v pump for misting.

for heating I use a oil room heater with fan blowing through it.
a/c nothing yet... since its winter

I recommend being careful on trying to do this yourself. since you will be working with line voltage. you also have to keep in mind the watt's being used by heaters and etc. if you undersized a relay it will burn out quickly or melt down.. plus most residential outlets are rated 15 amps. Which oil room heaters max out(1500 watt).. but luckly setable to medium(800 watt) and low(400 watt)..

As for incubator control I would recommend the herpstat.

yes you can wire up more then one piece of heat tape to one electric source. all you do is wire up the first one normal at one end and on the other end you wire it up to the next one and so on. It will kinda look like this. Sorry for my lame blue print lol.

+------(====)------(=====)------(=====)

+ = Male end of a power cord
--- = Power cord
(===) = Heat tape

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Originally Posted by Raverthug

Ok Thank you. I have some know how when it comes to plumbing and Hvac
so I was just thinkin about that ya know. Looks like Im just gonna go with a helix or a herpastat.

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I keep the books for a commercial HVAC company and they have some nice digital commercial Thermostats (like used in the food industry) with accurate probes. My boss and friend offered to rig one up on my rack I am fabricating. (although what that really meant was "while I do this, you can fab duct on your day off") He has his master mechanical, Im sure it would work. But when I think of the snakes and the incubator...I for sure want something proven in the reptile industry, even though the money saving would have been nice. I personally went with Herpstat.

Really the best choice when you think about what is at stake. There are other ways to cut corners on a incubator. The thermostat is the one that you really want to play it safe with imo.