Ranco Failure

Had my Ranco running my oil filled heater fail today. Some error code and it was stuck on. Luckily I found it when the room temp was still in the low 90s. Has this happened to anybody else?

I've had several Ranco's fail on me. I buy the Johnsons controllers now.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I've had several Ranco's fail on me. I buy the Johnsons controllers now.

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I just may have to do that. I'm not sure I want to leave my snakes in a room with a Ranco anymore.

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Originally Posted by AndrewGeibel

Has this happened to anybody else?

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Lost my entire collection that way in November of 2010 :(

I had one go crazy when the temp sensor got wet. When dried out it was fine.
Scarey topic!

Why have I not heard about all these problems? I cruise the forums daily. I guess I know what thermostat to never use or recommend again.

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Originally Posted by AndrewGeibel

Why have I not heard about all these problems?

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Sorry Brother, when I had my issue, it kinda' put me in a bad place for a while and I dropped off the Forum and out of the hobby for almost two years. Maybe I should have posted about it when it happened.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever confirmed the name of the thermostat that caused my problem. Mine went stupid during a Noreaster, while I was on a business trip. I always wonderd if I would have had a different result had I used another type of thermostat.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Sorry Brother, when I had my issue, it kinda' put me in a bad place for a while and I dropped off the Forum and out of the hobby for almost two years. Maybe I should have posted about it when it happened.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever confirmed the name of the thermostat that caused my problem. Mine went stupid during a Noreaster, while I was on a business trip. I always wonderd if I would have had a different result had I used another type of thermostat.

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damn sorry to hear the whole story. I'd noticed you previously had alluded to dropping out of the hobby for a while but didn't realize that was the reason.

I use herpstats simply because I prefer proportional to on/off, but it's helpful to have threads like this to remind people of the importance of a back-up regardless of the brand.

Sorry to hear about your losses Slim. That is so scary to constantly hear about.

We are currently using two Rancos, but they are only acting as backups to the oil heaters' built in tstats. And we finally have all but one rack with backup tstats as well. It's really getting expensive but it sure makes me feel a lot more at ease when I have to leave the house.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Sorry Brother, when I had my issue, it kinda' put me in a bad place for a while and I dropped off the Forum and out of the hobby for almost two years. Maybe I should have posted about it when it happened.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever confirmed the name of the thermostat that caused my problem. Mine went stupid during a Noreaster, while I was on a business trip. I always wonderd if I would have had a different result had I used another type of thermostat.

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Man I am really sorry, especially for bringing up bad memories.

My thermostat failure had nothing to do with power surges or anything like that. I would have known due to clocks and other appliances failing. That and I have a very good power line conditioner on my reptile enclosures.

i have had 2 rancos hooked up for a couple years now with no problems. not every one has these issues

I've thrown away approx. 5 Rancos in the last few years. In my experience they last a couple years, give error messages, and then fail. I've never had them die in the on position though. Mine are always off with an error message. I've been replacing them with Herpstats.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

And we finally have all but one rack with backup tstats as well. It's really getting expensive but it sure makes me feel a lot more at ease when I have to leave the house.

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Originally Posted by wwmjkd

I use herpstats simply because I prefer proportional to on/off, but it's helpful to have threads like this to remind people of the importance of a back-up regardless of the brand.

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It taught me my lesson about both lower end thermostats, and the importance of using a back up.

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Originally Posted by AndrewGeibel

Man I am really sorry, especially for bringing up bad memories.

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No worries, Bro. I miss those snakes, but I'm back on the horse, so to speak :gj: