Ranco Thermostats

I'm thinking about buying one of these, but I was just curious about a few things. Do most of you use flexwatt with your Ranco? I have 3 UTHs right now, and am hoping that I can wire something to control all of them... Or just buy some flexwatt.

I'm not quite sure where I should go with this little situation, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I use UTH's with my rancos.

They connect into a 6 slot outlet strip like you might see on a computer. I love my ranco's personally.

I will agree, I use a ranco to regulate temps on my snake racks, and leopard gecko colony.... works beautifuly

Does it keep both UTH's at the same temp?

As long as they're the same size/wattage, you should be good.

Calorique does have slight variances between roll to roll of their products.

So if your going to be running a bunch of different pieces, its best to order them all at the same time to try and make sure they come off the same roll.

I try to do it that way anyway

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elise.m

Does it keep both UTH's at the same temp?

---

I have a double ranco and I love it. It is wired to a power strip and 5 different plugs for flexwatt are plugged into that. If you get one that is not already wired to a strip then you only need to plug the ranco into a strip and plug the strip into the wall. Then the UTH plugs go into the strip. The only odd thing I have ever noticed about mine is that the "set" temperature is 7-9 degrees lower than the desired temperature of the hot end of my enclosures. Meaning I have my ranco set at 83 but the flexwatt is staying at 90 or above. If I were to set the ranco at 90 the temps on the hot end would read over 100. I dont really understand this part but they work great for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elise.m

Does it keep both UTH's at the same temp?

---

Yes save for the differences that come with hieght. The top is warmer than the bottom etc.

Awesome, thanks everyone! I'll probly just order a pre wired one from RBI then, and maybe tweak some things around. I have a used rack and they have 2 sizes of UTHs glued on. But, they used it for boas, so I have more room than they did.

I'd prefer to get rid of the UTHs and do flexwatt.

i use a ranco with both heat tape 3 and 11 and uth on 2 different racks set her up on 100 put the probe on the middle of my 11' strip and there you have it everyone stays about 91 on the warm side

Oh and I kind of worded my reply backwards. Since the thermostat controls the amount of power going to the heat then the heat needs to be plugged into the thermostat. Helix for instance, has an outlet on the therm itself. The strip is plugged into this while the therm is plugged into the wall and the plugs for the heat are plugged into the strip. I can see where it gets confusing lol! Im even confused at this point and dont know if I even said it right that time either.

Here is a link that shows how to properly wire a ranco.

http://www.rcreptiles.com/blog/index...1000_thermosta

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

I have a double ranco and I love it. It is wired to a power strip and 5 different plugs for flexwatt are plugged into that. If you get one that is not already wired to a strip then you only need to plug the ranco into a strip and plug the strip into the wall. Then the UTH plugs go into the strip. The only odd thing I have ever noticed about mine is that the "set" temperature is 7-9 degrees lower than the desired temperature of the hot end of my enclosures. Meaning I have my ranco set at 83 but the flexwatt is staying at 90 or above. If I were to set the ranco at 90 the temps on the hot end would read over 100. I dont really understand this part but they work great for me.

---

What is your temperature differential set at?


Elise, I've never had any trouble from the Ranco's and I used them with UTH's on tubs...

i use the ranco for my rack and herpstat for the incubator. My ranco to keep temps in the 89-91 range is set at 92 on the ranco. check temps daily and there always on. will switch to the herpstat on the rack as soon as i get around to ordering another one. I have no problems with the ranco but i like the herpstat a lot better. Plus its always good to have a back up in case anything happens. With 25 snakes id rather be safe then sorry

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BallsUnlimited

i use the ranco for my rack and herpstat for the incubator. My ranco to keep temps in the 89-91 range is set at 92 on the ranco. check temps daily and there always on. will switch to the herpstat on the rack as soon as i get around to ordering another one. I have no problems with the ranco but i like the herpstat a lot better. Plus its always good to have a back up in case anything happens. With 25 snakes id rather be safe then sorry

---

I have a Ranco for almost a year now and no problems. Works great. Even wired it my self.

It does a great job for the money. But in the RBI rack I switch to, I get different temp readings in different tubs. And even though They are constant, some are 3-4 degrees off each other sometimes. Just annoying for my self really.

Also Im living in a studio now and it makes a ticking noise everytime it turns on and off. It's very loud when the Ranco is brand new. It will take a while for the noise to come down.

I would like to upgrade to a herpstat to give differential t-stats a try, and to have a back up thermostat in case one breaks or anything else like BallsUnlimited said.

Dan does make a good point about the tick, but I keep mine downstairs. And downstairs I can barely hear it, behind a closed door I doubt I could at all,

I don't mind ticks while I sleep... After all, I live 1 block away from the train tracks, and right on a busy street, lol.

yeah the ticks dont bother me at all. live a block away from a busy road and cars are forever cutting down my block to beat the light. But im just more of a fan of the proportional thermostats than the on and off. But ranco deff gets two thumbs up in my book. Hasnt given me any problems. :gj:

one way i found to stop the clicking on and off and to make it more like a herpstat or helix is to run a dimmer knob from like wal mart, set the knob for your wanted temp and then set the ranco for like 5 above and it will kick it off if it gets to hot which is what we are all looking for, its like a poor mans herpstat, but with that said as soon as im not broke all the time i will have herpstats because they do all that with a push of a button.:gj: