Hydrofarm T-Stat Issue

Well, I've heard a lot of you guys say that this particular thermostat can be as much as 3 degrees off. I'm beginning to think it's more like 10.

I leave for work at about 10am every day. Usually get home around 5:30. Check my tank. The Accurite says my tank is at 108 freaking degrees. Hydrofarm is at 98. I set it for 93. I'm having a really hard time getting this thing to regulate itself properly... obviously. Which one do I trust here, Hydrofarm or Accurite? I was doing better with the light-dimmer and Accurite (or at least I thought I was). The temperature in the room rises and falls fairly significantly by day and night. I'd have to check to see the exact changes. But, could that be causing the Hydrofarm to overreact?

I got a 20gallon ZooMed. UTH, obviously. One bulb and blacklight on top as well. The probes are buried under about 3/5 or 4/5 of an inch of shredded coco-husk.

Need more info or want pictures, please let me know.

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Originally Posted by BWyant

Well, I've heard a lot of you guys say that this particular thermostat can be as much as 3 degrees off. I'm beginning to think it's more like 10.

I leave for work at about 10am every day. Usually get home around 5:30. Check my tank. The Accurite says my tank is at 108 freaking degrees. Hydrofarm is at 98. I set it for 93. I'm having a really hard time getting this thing to regulate itself properly... obviously. Which one do I trust here, Hydrofarm or Accurite? I was doing better with the light-dimmer and Accurite (or at least I thought I was). The temperature in the room rises and falls fairly significantly by day and night. I'd have to check to see the exact changes. But, could that be causing the Hydrofarm to overreact?

I got a 20gallon ZooMed. UTH, obviously. One bulb and blacklight on top as well. The probes are buried under about 3/5 or 4/5 of an inch of shredded coco-husk.

Need more info or want pictures, please let me know.

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Don't put your thermostat probe in the enclosure. Keep it outside. Some people keep their probes successfully inside, but I wouldn't risk it. The snake could move it off the heating source and create temp spikes.
If it says 98/108 degrees, then the Thermostat shouldn't even be on if it's set to a max of 93. Could your bulbs be making it too hot as well?

As for which to trust more, Hydrofarm or Accurite. Neither. Both aren't very accurate. And the thermostat isn't meant to be used as a thermometer. I've had 4 Accurites and 2 of them were 10 degrees off from one another. The remaining two matched up with my temp gun.
I would invest in a temp gun.

Thanks for the reply,

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Don't put your thermostat probe in the enclosure. Keep it outside.

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Really? How's it supposed to control or know the temperature in the tank then?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Some people keep their probes successfully inside, but I wouldn't risk it. The snake could move it off the heating source and create temp spikes.

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I've got the cord, just before the probe, duct-taped down to the glass for exactly that reason. Snake moved it once. I said "Oh, no, you won't outsmart me."

Are there any other risks of keeping it inside?

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Originally Posted by satomi325

If it says 98/108 degrees, then the Thermostat shouldn't even be on if it's set to a max of 93.

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That's what I'm saying! LoL.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Could your bulbs be making it too hot as well?

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I doubt it. I mentioned that I thought I had things set up properly before when it was just the Accurite and light-switch dimmer, I think. I haven't had this trouble getting the temps stable before, but I guess I was only looking at one temp reading and assuming that I could reasonably trust it at that time. I just got the Hydrofarm a couple days ago.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

And the thermostat isn't meant to be used as a thermometer.

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Ok, I'm stupid. Explain what you mean by that.

Really? How's it supposed to control or know the temperature in the tank then?

By attaching the probe directly to the UTH, you can control the temperature of the UTH, then you your thermometer to set the thermostat to the right setting.

I've got the cord, just before the probe, duct-taped down to the glass for exactly that reason. Snake moved it once. I said "Oh, no, you won't outsmart me."

Are there any other risks of keeping it inside?

The tape isn't inside the cage right? Tape inside the cage is a major no no.

That's what I'm saying! LoL.



I doubt it. I mentioned that I thought I had things set up properly before when it was just the Accurite and light-switch dimmer, I think. I haven't had this trouble getting the temps stable before, but I guess I was only looking at one temp reading and assuming that I could reasonably trust it at that time. I just got the Hydrofarm a couple days ago.



Ok, I'm stupid. Explain what you mean by that.

Meaning that you shouldn't use the thermostat to measure temperature. The thermostat needs to be set to the temperature that makes the cage the right temperature. for most of my cages my thermostats are set at 100-102.5 degrees to create a 90 degree hotspot. Try to think of the thermostat set temperature as a number and not as a temperature.

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Originally Posted by BWyant

I've got the cord, just before the probe, duct-taped down to the glass for exactly that reason.

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Please get the tape out of your enclosure! Snakes and tape don't mix well.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Please get the tape out of your enclosure! Snakes and tape don't mix well.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

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Why is tape bad? Chemicals?

I trust my one Hydrofarm just slightly more than the accurites I run but I trust neither of them completely. Anyone walking into my reptile room would freak looking at what temp the thermostats say lol.

Just double check occasionally with a reliable temp gun and adjust accordingly

Never, ever use tape inside the enclosure. It can do some nasty damage to snakes. What you do is layer it from the bottom up like so: UTH, probe in the middle of the heater, then bottom of tank, glass, accurite probe, substrate (1/2").
Aside from getting knocked loose, there is just a lot of variables to contend with. Moisture, urination, defecation...snake. It's safer to have it at a constant. If you want to secure a probe, (thermometer) I've heard using hot glue works well without the risk of sticky tape getting stuck to your baby. I don't personally have my thermometer probe secured, but I check my temps 2 times a day with a temp gun and the probe doesn't get moved too much by my girl. I have a red heat light on a dimmer + the thermostat / UTH and when I got the light I had to adjust both quite a bit to get a good zone. My thermostat is set for 94, and the red light is about half power. That keeps her hot side hide (right on the glass reading) at 89-92 (the range I blame on the hydrofarm stat...herpstat ordered should be here in a week hopefully!) and her cool side hovering from 77-80. It definitely takes some tweaking, but I was more comfortable having the UTH only hitting 88 by itself and using the red light to bring it up to 90 range, then having my tstat set at 95+ to get the glass at 90.

A thermostat is meant to control the temperature. Not to tell you how hot your enclosure is. You need to use a temp gun / thermometer to see what your enclosure temps are. (Because a tstat is meant to be used outside of the enclosure)

No, snakes will find a way to get themselves stuck to it, and pulling tape off of a snake can really hurt them

Tape can get stuck to a snake, removing scales and skin.

Tape on a snake is horrible, skin injurys all the way up to potentially blinding a snake. They're good at finding ways to get even to most solidly stuck-down tape up too.

The specs for hydrofarm state +/- 2ºC so if it is working as it is designed it can be 4ºF from correct either up or down. They also from the set point have 'swing' it will kick on at 3º below the temp set and off at 1º above the set point. (could be as much as 7º below where you expect or 5º above) This is if it is 100% working exactly as it was designed. I have tested a handful 7 now I think 3 'new and improved' and 4 older ones all were high the worst was more than 4ºF.

The real killer of this is the probe. The big metal heavy probe, it has a lot of mass it hold heat and is slow to cool. It can be very slow to adjust and while it is taking its time adjusting the power is on to the heater causing a spike. The reverse is true for cooling. This is made worse by cooler rooms temps and thin enclosures (like a tub alone in a room 68ºF or so). The tub heats up and cools faster than the probe does causing greater spikes. I suspect you are seeing a combination of these.

Accurites are not accurate in my experience either. The specs say +/-2ºF (some are 3ºF+/-) it took three units before one was inside 2ºF. The problem is what is accurate? I believe hydrofarms need to be joined with an accurate thermometer of some sort. The easy answer is not cheap, a scientific traceable thermometer of 0.5º +/- accuracy. They are usually well over 100$ often in the 600-1000$ range. The next best thing is well bluntly a proportional thermostat designed for reptiles the ones on the market have accuracy of +/-1ºF or less they are actually very accurate thermometers for the price. The third option is the law of averages. Companies attempt to make accurate thermometers, due to the nature of how they work there are a huge number of very minute things can cause them to be incorrect (bad joint, dirt, poor quality wire... on and on) The solution if you have multiple thermometers placed all together the ones that are higher than average or lower should not be trusted. I buy very cheap esu ones some ebay searching will usually turn up them for 1-3$ each with shipping. I usually but 10-20 units. This gives me extras and some junk ones this is the cost of 1-3 accurites. The added bonus no batteries in the enclosure. I toss them when the readings seem off and replace it with new. (or if the cord is damaged in anyway or if it gets pulled or peed on or dirty.)

I actually believe probes in enclosures are fine IF the t-stat is protected against over or UNDER temps by either a second fail safe or internal circuitry. the probe also MUST not move. I use hot melt to secure the probe and all the probe wiring. It is very secure nothing standing up no way to get under it and firmly fixed in place (hot melt must be cool and well set when the snake is returned don't hot melt glue your snake.) The internal placement provides more accurate temps especially in rooms that have variable ambient air temps.

Again with an interior mounting the suggestion is for a new T-stat personally there is only one option the herpstat 1+ they have internal circuits that when enabled will shut down power if the temp suddenly drops or spikes. When a fail safe Tstat is added it is such low odds of both failing at the same time is very low (major event excluded). I personally feel that interior mounting needs a herpstat or at least a primary and fail safe.

*Sigh*

Sounds like I might as well buy a Herpstat 4 like I'd planned.

Duct tape is out of the tank. Thanks for letting me know. It's hard to believe snakes can pull up duct tape.

yes actually they can and have. tape stuck on a snake is a huge problem

Be careful even sticking a temperature or humidity gauge on the inside of the enclosure (the kind that stick to the walls). My snake crawled on one once and ended up wearing his humidity gauge as an accessory. -_- Wasn't fun getting that off.

Good luck with your difficulties. I can feel you with the thermometer being off by so many degrees, as I've been having that problem a lot as well.

Sooooo not happy now, since I have a Hydrofarm T-stat already paid for and in transit. . . . .