Help! New Rack overheated.

I'm sorry first all. I go to college mon-Thursday and come home Friday morning to check on my snakes. Well I've been having heating issues (see my last thread) and well checked on them a few minutes ago and the rack was up to 115F I have no idea if it was like that all week or just a few hours. I have a ve-100 thermostat set at 79 which for about a week or two ran it all at 89. Well now a week later it hit those temps. The snakes all seem ok all were off the heat except my normal male, no visible burns ATM.

Help is it the thermostat broken? What do I do in the mean time I unplugged the heat and removed all snakes from the bins until it cools down.

Should I use my hydrofarm thermostat in the mean time? I have two adult males and two babies (1 of which is wont eat). I have no idea what to do :'(

I feel like such a bad owner :(

Oh, it's a 4 slot 31qt boamasters rack with 3" flex watt from reptile basics who installed the plugs and wire on the flex watt.

Sounds to me like maybe your probe is loose. Check your probe placement and make sure it is secure.

The VE should display the probe temperature, so you can compare that to a temp gun reading. What does that show? It could possibly be a failure, but it sounds more like a probe issue to me.

The probe is secure I have a small 15qt tub for the baby who won't eat so the probe is on the third level down secured by shipping tape but the tape isn't on the probe. A tub doesn't come in contact so the probe doesn't slide or move. The probe and temp gun are reading the same give or take 4 degrees.

I have no helpful advice, I just like the fact that you HAVE a hydrofarm thermostat ;)

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Originally Posted by MrBubblyDrink

I have no helpful advice, I just like the fact that you HAVE a hydrofarm thermostat ;)

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A lot of people do. Its the recommended tstat for low cost start up.

I had them when I have two free standing tubs they ran great for me. Kept temperatures constant. I'd honestly give it a higher rating than my ve-100.

Give Rich a call at Reptile Basics. Describe exactly what is happening. He can tell you if it is a thermostat problem. I have somewhere around 10 of the VE's in my reptile room. I had one that would not reset properly during a power outage (one of the earliest models). Rich replaced it promptly. Other than that, I've found the VE's to be very good thermostats. I use the VE100's as back ups on all of my racks.

Is there any way I could set up the hydrofarm as a back up until I get a new thermostat in? How do I go about that?

I also put electrical tape on the end of the flex watt on the good colored sections (I was afraid of a fire or shock) could that be affecting it?

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Originally Posted by Malaika

Is there any way I could set up the hydrofarm as a back up until I get a new thermostat in? How do I go about that?

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I would call Rich. If it is a bad, he will have you send it back for it to be swapped out. While it is in transit, you will have to use your hydrofarm to get you by.

If you want to use the Hydrofarm as a backup, then you would place the Hydrofarm's probe similar to your VE100 probe. Then plug your VE100 into the Hydrofarm (Hydrofarm plugged into the wall). Fiddle with the Hydrofarm until it is a few degrees higher than the VE100. If the VE100 gets too hot, the Hydrofarm will shut it off.

I read that you have it on the 3rd level of your rack. is this back or belly heat? and no tape on the probe. is the probe touching the flexwatt? you need to tell us more details on the location of the probe to the flexwatt.

my probe is about middle of my rack.(this refers to the height of the rack) metal taped to my flexwatt where my tub doesn't come into contact. thats the belly heated racks. the back heated racks, again about middle of the rack,(again height of the rack) the probe is taped to the floor of the rack about an inch away from the back heated flexwatt. the tub doesn't touch this setup either.

if your probe is secure correctly, then it sounds like you have a problem with your thermostat and need to contact the vendor.
the thermostat controls your flexwatt no matter how hot it can get, its the thermostats job to prevent this. the only time it can be a flexwatt problem is if you're getting no heat when used with a thermostat. the tape on the ends of the flexwatt is good. mine is also taped. and yes you need to have some kind of control on the flexwatt until you get this corrected. so use the other thermostat and keep an eye on the temps with a temp gun or something that you have.

I bought the thermostat at the show from boamasters with the rack so ill contact them later. I have belly heat an the thermostat is taped down approximately half way down the length of the flex watt.

So the level where the probe is doesn't have a tub the same size as the rest of the rack? If it doesn't this could be where your problem is. We moved a tub that had the probe for the Hydrofarm under it and temps spiked because it was reading different than when the tub was over it.

http://images9.fotki.com/v114/photos...drawing-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Simple diagram for a failsafe system. If it isn't the probe it must be the VE100 there has been issues in the past with them resetting to a default setting after a power failure I am unsure what the default is but it might be something to check that the set point is still what you set.

If the ambient temps in the room are very cold it may effect the probe and drop it to a much lower temp disproportionally and force the rack to over heat to adjust the cold probe. I am just grasping at straws.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

http://images9.fotki.com/v114/photos...drawing-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Simple diagram for a failsafe system. If it isn't the probe it must be the VE100 there has been issues in the past with them resetting to a default setting after a power failure I am unsure what the default is but it might be something to check that the set point is still what you set.

If the ambient temps in the room are very cold it may effect the probe and drop it to a much lower temp disproportionally and force the rack to over heat to adjust the cold probe. I am just grasping at straws.

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this is not fail safe. with electronics, nothing is fail safe. BUT a very good system. one thing that should be said about doing it this way. I feel the secondary t-stat should be an off / on not proportional thermostat. when you start having different voltages with digital devices, you can have crazy things happening. one reason why spyder robotics has a warning about running their thermostats off of a generator. they need a pure clean power supply and even using reg household power, they should be wired thru a good surge surpressor. NEVER go cheap on a thermostat, if you can't afford a good thermostat then stay away from this type of hobby. not only can a malfunctioning thermostat burn your reptiles, it can also burn your house down and you might be in it. I'm not applying that the ve100 is a bad thermostat, I haven't done any research on it. kitedemon nice diagram, thanks don

Fortunately money isn't an issue for me, I have a very well paying job. I'm in the process of purchasing a herpstat 4 while ill have the hydrofarm running as my back up for the next few days.

Yes it must be a on/off like the VE100 is. The herpstats offer the most advanced safety systems on the market the VE series offer the most basic systems (helix as well) The ecozone and herpkeeper are in between.

I guess it depends on how you define failsafe I have always used a devise that in the case of a failure responds in a way that minimize the damage due to the failure. The secondary T-stat certainly does this. If used with a herpstat and with the relay and low temp shut down enabled it is a triple safe as the primary has a principal function and a secondary back up system built in the third is the second T-stat.

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Originally Posted by Malaika

Fortunately money isn't an issue for me, I have a very well paying job. I'm in the process of purchasing a herpstat 4 while ill have the hydrofarm running as my back up for the next few days.

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I have a herpstat 4 and I just purchase another one on 12/6 they had a sale on them until 12/7 10% off. held too many hatchlings back this year and had to get another one. I think you'll really like the herpstat 4. spider robotics recommends running it thru a good surge protector. let us know how everything works out for you. don

i woild tape the probe to the heat tape...i have my probe compleatly taped down to my flexwayt with aluminum tape covering the whole top of the probe...you have to make sure it is touching your heatsorce

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Originally Posted by willieshotg3

i woild tape the probe to the heat tape...i have my probe compleatly taped down to my flexwayt with aluminum tape covering the whole top of the probe...you have to make sure it is touching your heatsorce

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Be careful when taping the probe. You don't want to cover the entire probe as this traps heat and will give inaccurate readings. And aluminum tape conducts heat making it read higher than what its suppose to be. This results in the flexwatt being a lower temp since the probe thinks its higher.

I recommend just taping the cord closest to the probe and the very tip of the probe.

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i have the whole probe coverd on a herpastat 4 set at 91deg...my temps are perfect checked with a temp gun