ReptiTemp 500r = garbage

Can someone please tell me I am not the only one who is having problems with the reptitemp 500r?

I am using the reptitemp for the UTH on the hot side of my tank, and it fluctuates anywhere from 84 degrees to 100 degrees. It has been acting stupid like that for the past 3 weeks.

On the other side of the tank, I have a UTH plugged into a lamp dimmer, and its constantly staying between 78-83 which is perfect.

How is my $8 lamp dimmer working better than my $22 reptitemp 500r at keeping consistant temps? What a waste of money.... Oh and another thing, the sticky stuff on the reptitemp 500r is so weak that it's impossible to stick to your tank and have it stay on. I had to add extra adhesive tape to it just to get it to hold to the side of my tank a week before falling again.

I can't wait to order my rack from reptilebasics in a week. Then hopefully I won't have any of these annoying problems.

Okay I'm done lol

Are you attaching the probe from the 500r to the side of your tank to regulate an UTH (you talk about it falling off even with tape)? The temp probe for the 500r should go between the UTH and the tank, that way it is regulating the temperature of the UTH not trying to regulate the ambient temp, which is what it would be trying to measure if the probe is attached to the side of the tank.

There ar lots of folks here who really seem to think the 500r is a good product at a good price. I'm sorry that your experience seems to be otherwise.

I was just about to buy one and try it out because they are cheap, I guess I'll be looking into something else now.

I find it works fair. The sticky on the back is horrible. Stuck in just a corner and pulled a big paint chip off my wall.

i never had success with mine when i had one.

i sold it and bought a johnsons and never looked back.

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Originally Posted by barres

Are you attaching the probe from the 500r to the side of your tank to regulate an UTH (you talk about it falling off even with tape)? The temp probe for the 500r should go between the UTH and the tank, that way it is regulating the temperature of the UTH not trying to regulate the ambient temp, which is what it would be trying to measure if the probe is attached to the side of the tank.

There ar lots of folks here who really seem to think the 500r is a good product at a good price. I'm sorry that your experience seems to be otherwise.

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No no no, the probe is fine. The probe never falls off. I am talking about the Unit itself falling off of the side of my tank repeatedly because the sticky back is terribly cheap.

I have the probe right where it should be, but for some reason my temps are all over the place.

I wish I would have just spent $8 and got another lamp dimmer instead of this reptitemp.

Mine's doing fine so far. Haven't bothered with the sticky. I find the coverslip pointless, as it can cover no plug. Also, I do wish it were digital, as it's simply hard to adjust.

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Originally Posted by bsash

I was just about to buy one and try it out because they are cheap, I guess I'll be looking into something else now.

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I know that a lot of people have had success with using it. But I personally think its a peice of trash. I guess you get what you pay for though.... $22 worth of consistancy....

I am just going to buy another lamp dimmer in a couple hours to fix this.

How is this thing fluctuating between 84 and 100 degrees? It's awful. The little control knob on it is basically useless because it will never stay at the level you want anyway.

I personally haven't had any issues with mine. I've used it in the past in a 40 gallon breeder cage with no issues. Last year I even used it to hatch my 1st clutch of eggs with a cooler incubator. And now it's heating my 12 bin hatchling rack. So, far I've yet to have any problems with it. It seems to keep temps between 2-3 degrees difference.

I own other thermostats, but for the money I like the Repti Temp 500.

Mine says at 93-95 degrees in my gecko tank

Can anyone tell me what the ReptiTemp 500R is like on a rack? Is it better when used with heat tape instead of UTH's?

I am ordering a rack in about a week and I am just wondering if these Reptitemp 500r's are better with racks instead of tanks or if I should go with something a little more established like a Helix.

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

Can anyone tell me what the ReptiTemp 500R is like on a rack? Is it better when used with heat tape instead of UTH's?

I am ordering a rack in about a week and I am just wondering if these Reptitemp 500r's are better with racks instead of tanks or if I should go with something a little more established like a Helix.

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The flexwatt will be better than a UTH b/c the ZooMed UTH's ALWAYS try and peak out on you vs the flexwatt doesn't. I personally wouldn't trust my 500R on my rack. I like having the feeling of not having to check it 4 times a day so Im not freaking out all the time.

Sorry to hear that. I'm a big believer in the Herpstat products from Spyder robotics. It'll cost you a little more in the long run but its piece of mind is priceless.
The dimmers will work fine as long as your room temps stay the same. Room temps go up or down you have to adjust the dimmer accordingly
But look at it this way. Worst case your only out 22 bucks.

I have one stashed away somewhere. I would always get crazy temp swings with it so I quickly changed to my Helix.

I had the same it is an on and off unit 100% power no power it can do nothing other than spike. Get a proportional Thermostat they are worth the money and peace of mind! the time I spent trying to get a 500r correct was worth more than the difference in price.
Alex

I have the 500r on my 11 bin rack and have not had an issue for 3 years now.
I do have a herpstat as well for my incubator but the rack has been fine for years.

I'm using 11" flexwatt and it's back heat, so I just crank up the 500r to max and it runs the flexwatt at about 102 degrees. But because it's back heat the back side of the tubs only get to 94 degrees max.

I don't recommend them at all but mine has not failed me so far, but like I said I do have a Herpstat as a back up and wil swap it out at the first sign of malfunction. Why fix what ain't broke??


Gavin

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

No no no, the probe is fine. The probe never falls off. I am talking about the Unit itself falling off of the side of my tank repeatedly because the sticky back is terribly cheap.

I have the probe right where it should be, but for some reason my temps are all over the place.

I wish I would have just spent $8 and got another lamp dimmer instead of this reptitemp.

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Oops! I completely misread that in your OP.

It works great for me... except the sticky tape, that sucks!

:P You get what you pay for, its a nice starter stat for beginners who don't want to spend more for there thermostat then they did for there snake. Beyond that and..... yeah lol

in 1 year i have not had any issues with the two i have been using. its prolly defective or the way its setup.

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I am ordering a rack in about a week and I am just wondering if these Reptitemp 500r's are better with racks instead of tanks or if I should go with something a little more established like a Helix.

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If your room fluctuates a lot it might affect it, I dont know.

Herpstat FTW.
Spyder Robotics blows Helix and every other thermo out the water, with my second fav being BAH Herp Power, but it's analog.

With Helix you cant adjust the temp up and down at will, you have to cycle through the whole range of temps if you overshoot.

Some people do good with the ReptiTemp though man....

at most mine will fluctuate by 5*.

i have my probe duct taped to the bottom of the UTH and my accurite probe right over the thermostat probe. temps are perfect and cleaning is easy

From what ive found is that a % of the reptiTemps do not work good. I on one hand had one that worked great, got another one, and it sucked. It seems like this is what happens with other members as well, some say it works fine, some say it wont work at all. Do not forget that the Reptitemp is an On/off Thermostat, so room temp changes and how fast the heating device warms up and cools down affects it. Being an on off is also the reason why the temps are always so different.

I believe it depends on what your trying to use it on. With Flexwatt it worked GOOD ( Not the best comparing to my Helix's that I now use) Heat rope horrible, and heat pad Not good either.

My best advice is save up and get something you know will be dependable.

Thanks for all the responses guys. I basically narrowed it down to a Helix or a Herpstat. Out of the Helix and Herpstat, which is the better in your opinions?

Looks like I am going to drop around another $150 sometime soon, which sucks because I can only really work part time because of college and other crap. Man I wish I hit the lottery.

Those things are junk, you get what you pay for tho. You may aswell just spend the extra $80 and buy a tstat.
Or use a ultraherm heat pad and play with the depth of your substrate, and not use a dimmer or anything at all..

I'm very pleased with my HerpStats. They're a little less expensive than Helix, and work equally well. Lots of bells and whistles, too.

ok my turn i have and stand by my repti therm but i also have alot of stuff attached to it like a digital thermometer probe taped to the reptitherm probe to make it have a "digital" readout, i also put a dimmer (i use one that goes in the wall) on it to make it to where you can set the heat tape at a temp you want and it will kinda hold it there but it wont let it go to hot. so if you mess with it you will be fine, i used mine to incubate my clutch this year and it did perfect. BUT as soon as my new bator is built im putting a RANCO on it.

yea i would go with at least a ranco if nothing else

[QUOTE=bman123;1341618]Those things are junk, you get what you pay for tho. You may aswell just spend the extra $80 and buy a tstat.
Or use a ultraherm heat pad and play with the depth of your substrate, and not use a dimmer or anything at all..[/QUOTE]


Terrible idea.

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

Thanks for all the responses guys. I basically narrowed it down to a Helix or a Herpstat. Out of the Helix and Herpstat, which is the better in your opinions?

Looks like I am going to drop around another $150 sometime soon, which sucks because I can only really work part time because of college and other crap. Man I wish I hit the lottery.

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Get the herpstat.:gj:

I agree. I've had a herpstat for 3 years. It blew a fuse once. I sent it back to them. They fixed it and returned it free of charge, I had it back within a week. I would highly recommend herpstat's to anyone.

Late post if you havent picked it up yet. But i would go with the straight herpstat proportional stat non grounded to save a few bucks . I think they're like 108 bucks or something. Helix is good as well , just not as many features. But i would try to get a proportional as opposed to an on/off type. I believe they work on a 3 deg drop before they activate.

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Or use a ultraherm heat pad and play with the depth of your substrate, and not use a dimmer or anything at all..

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Actually, the ultratherms are made to be used without a thermostat. They are made specifically for reptile use and heat up to about 97 degrees. I have one and routinely temp gunned it to check and i'd have fluctuations from 93-99 degrees. I think ONCE i found 1 spot that was 103 and under a glass tank with an air pocket between there was no worry of anything burning my animals. That said I'd only use them personally for leopard geckos or ball pythons or use it as back heat for my solomons. Currently i am not using mine since i switched around my caging.

As long as the pads have some air flow they seem to work fine, if you cut off the airflow they will over heat (like anything else). That was my personal experience with one.

Unfortunately i can't get reptilebasics.com to open for me, but if you can, look at their ultratherm page, the temperature is discussed there.

The ultratherms are NOT zoomeds or the cobra mats or human heating pads, they're made specifically to be used for reptiles.