Temperature problems

I'm still having temperature problems in Oliver's tank. I purchased one of those infrared thermometers that you can spot check temps all around the tank. Thank God, because I almost had a heart attack when the probe thermometer in the tank on hot side read 100F. When I used the infrared thermometer, I got a reading of 81 on the bottom of the tank and 90 on the top of his rock under the basking lamp. Aargh!!!!!


The hot probe is anchored in the tank above the UTH under Oliver's large stone hide. The cold side is reading in the 70s/80s, which I believe is fine. Those temps check out with the infrared thermometer. Should I move the hot probe to another location in the tank?




I'm desperately confused..... Could the probe thermometer be broken?


Thanks,
P.

Possibly, when in doubt I trust my temp gun. Hot side sounds good, for the cool side just keep it above 73F and you should be good. Some people will recomend covering part of the screen with aluminum foil to help trap heat.

Wow,weird....usually ppl have problems with humidity not temps. I'm confused with all your posts, to be honest. I don't get what your problem is. Just cover a majority of the top if the tank with a a few thick wett rags( if your using aspen) or tin foil is your using cypress,coco husk,Eco earth and wet the subsurface etc...mess around with where you set your water bowl,get a large water bowl, buy a few diff watt bulbs and mess around..I think your driving your own self crazy here:(

if you post a pic of your set up it would be easier to help.

Many thanks :-)

Yep, I've got 2/3 of the top covered with foil, and a hand towel on top of the foil as well.

No contacts are not too accurate in reflective surfaces.
If you are temping off of a glass bottom that could give you an off reading.

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

Many thanks :-)

Yep, I've got 2/3 of the top covered with foil, and a hand towel on top of the foil as well.

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Why do you have a rag on top of the foil??? Is it a wett rag? If so the wet rag should be on top the screen to help create humidity,cause on top of the foil,it's not doing much of anything. What substrate are you using? You have me very confused,lol..I just don't get it.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

No contacts are not too accurate in reflective surfaces.
If you are temping off of a glass bottom that could give you an off reading.

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Why is that?

You're not as confused as I am, lol. I pulled out the probe thermometer and will use the temp gun instead :-)

The towel is on top of the foil just for extra weight to hold the foil down securely.....another layer of insulation.... P.

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Originally Posted by pbyeerts

You're not as confused as I am, lol. I pulled out the probe thermometer and will use the temp gun instead :-)

The towel is on top of the foil just for extra weight to hold the foil down securely.....another layer of insulation.... P.

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Oh ok,lol,I gotcha.good thinking
I keep my probe thermometer in the tank right above the center of the UTH to make sure my heat mat is working properly. I very rarely use my temp gun..I also have a hydrofarm thermostat regulating the UTH

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

Why is that?

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What is emissivity, and how is it related to infrared temperature measurements?

Emissivity is defined as the ratio of the energy radiated by an object at a given temperature to the energy emitted by a perfect radiator, or blackbody, at the same temperature. The emissivity of a blackbody is 1.0. All values of emissivity fall between 0.0 and 1.0. Most infrared thermometers have the ability to compensate for different emissivity values, for different materials. In general, the higher the emissivity of an object, the easier it is to obtain an accurate temperature measurement using infrared. Objects with very low emissivities (below 0.2) can be difficult applications. Some polished, shiny metallic surfaces, such as aluminum, are so reflective in the infrared that accurate temperature measurements are not always possible.

http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/infraredthermometer.html

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

Oh ok,lol,I gotcha.good thinking
I keep my probe thermometer in the tank right above the center of the UTH to make sure my heat mat is working properly. I very rarely use my temp gun..I also have a hydrofarm thermostat regulating the UTH

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I would not recommend keeping the probe inside the tank, if the snake urinates or spills water on the probe, the probe will sense a drop in temperature causing the UTH to spike in temperature, which can result in a burn to your snake or worse.

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Originally Posted by martin82531

What is emissivity, and how is it related to infrared temperature measurements?

Emissivity is defined as the ratio of the energy radiated by an object at a given temperature to the energy emitted by a perfect radiator, or blackbody, at the same temperature. The emissivity of a blackbody is 1.0. All values of emissivity fall between 0.0 and 1.0. Most infrared thermometers have the ability to compensate for different emissivity values, for different materials. In general, the higher the emissivity of an object, the easier it is to obtain an accurate temperature measurement using infrared. Objects with very low emissivities (below 0.2) can be difficult applications. Some polished, shiny metallic surfaces, such as aluminum, are so reflective in the infrared that accurate temperature measurements are not always possible.

http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/infraredthermometer.html

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Ok,yeah now everything is clear,lol:confusd:...I think the last 20 words are all that made sense to me..but I think you knew that was going to be the case..thanks for the attempt anyway.

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

Why do you have a rag on top of the foil??? Is it a wett rag? If so the wet rag should be on top the screen to help create humidity,cause on top of the foil,it's not doing much of anything. What substrate are you using? You have me very confused,lol..I just don't get it.

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I had a towel or rag on top of a of a glass tank, although this did not create any husbandry benefits, it was more for aesthetics reasons.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...isc/null-2.jpg

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Originally Posted by martin82531

I would not recommend keeping the probe inside the tank, if the snake urinates or spills water on the probe, the probe will sense a drop in temperature causing the UTH to spike in temperature, which can result in a burn to your snake or worse.

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I keep my thermometer probe inside the tank for quiet a few months now,never had any issues. I want to know the surface temp. The inside of the tank..I'm talking about the thermometers one,not the thgymostat probe..urinatung is possible,but no way he can spill water in there,plusi have a fairly thick layer of exo earth and repti bark mix which is very absorbent. Don't see how that can affect a thermometer probe. Much if at all..I've had my set up like it is for a while,my snakes are doing great. I'm leaving things as are

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

I keep my thermometer probe inside the tank for quiet a few months now,never had any issues. I want to know the surface temp. The inside of the tank..I'm talking about the thermometers one,not the thgymostat probe..urinatung is possible,but no way he can spill water in there,plusi have a fairly thick layer of exo earth and repti bark mix which is very absorbent. Don't see how that can affect a thermometer probe.

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If you want to know the surface temp, a probed thermometer that is buried under a "fairly thick layer of substrate" is going be difficult to give you the temperature you are looking for, I would recommend a IR gun for such results.

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Originally Posted by martin82531

If you want to know the surface temp, a probed thermometer that is buried under a "fairly thick layer of substrate" is going be difficult to give you the temperature you are looking for, I would recommend a IR gun for such results.

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I have an IR gun already. The probe is there so I can know the temp of the glass where the UTH is giving off heat at its hottest spot naturally it will heat up the substrate as well,which is what I'm rug t do and that's keep the inside of the hide on the hot side war and comfortable.. And the hide which creates a cool spot due to the shade and the lamp not getting through the hide to really create heat,it seems to work perfect for me and my snake,specifically my snake. Thanks for the advice,but I have no need to change anything,I'm having no problems,if something happens then I will do what's necessary'until then.if it ain't broke I'm not fixing it

The BP urinating or spilling water on the thermometer probe is NOT going to cause the UTH temp to rise if the thermometer malfunctions. The thermometer merely monitors the temp, not controls it. This could be a possibility if the thermoSTAT probe was placed in the tank.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by thejenius77

The BP urinating or spilling water on the thermometer probe is NOT going to cause the UTH temp to rise if the thermometer malfunctions. The thermometer merely monitors the temp, not controls it. This could be a possibility if the thermoSTAT probe was placed in the tank.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

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You are 100% correct, I meant to say the thermostat probe. :)

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Originally Posted by NYHC4LIFE8899

I keep my thermometer probe inside the tank for quiet a few months now,never had any issues. I want to know the surface temp. The inside of the tank..I'm talking about the thermometers one,not the thgymostat probe..urinatung is possible,but no way he can spill water in there,plusi have a fairly thick layer of exo earth and repti bark mix which is very absorbent. Don't see how that can affect a thermometer probe. Much if at all..I've had my set up like it is for a while,my snakes are doing great. I'm leaving things as are

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My apologies, I was thinking you were speaking about the thermostat probe. You are correct, this shouldn't affect the thermometer probe too much, and having a thermometer probe directly on the surface were the snake has the ability to reach is a good idea. The only thing I would say is to make sure you don't have the substrate too thick over the UTH, 1/4-1/2 inch thick is usually sufficient. If the substrate is too thick, it will defeat the purpose of having a UTH in the first place.