Rheostat Malfunction? Yikes!

Late last night, I was getting ready for bed when I noticed a few tubs had condensation on them... I figured it was from their soggy (f/t) rodents I'd fed earlier in the evening, but pulled out a tub to dry it off. As soon as I pulled out the tub I noticed it felt REALLY hot, so I looked at the digital thermometer above - and the temperature was 135F!! :O:O

I immediately (and rather frantically) pulled all the other tubs out, and turned down the rheostat to 80ish. It eventually cooled back down, so I returned the snakes to their rack, and then turned the dial up a notch since temps had dropped to the mid-80s. Then when I was getting ready this morning, I noticed it had jumped back up to 120+! I had to leave for work, so I pulled every tub out far enough to not be on the heat tape, and dialed the rheo back down under 80. I'm stuck here at work until at least 6pm, so hopefully that will do until I return. The ambient temps in that room are right around 79-80F, and I figure that's better than having them fry while I'm gone.

Sooo, what would cause a sudden spike like this? As you can see, I use a rheostat on this rack (only one rack has an actual thermostat), since that's usually fine in our mild climate here. Should I just get a new rheo on the way home, or might the problem be with the actual heat tape? Only other thing that really happened last night was a mouse hunt, when one of the live mice I was feeding got loose - and I trapped him right on top of the power strip which controls this rack. Maybe the mouse and/or I knocked something loose? Unfortunately I'm not sure where to get a rack-friendly thermostat nearby, as the local pet stores only sell rheos AFAIK. Hopefully a new one will fix things, but any input would be great.

P.S. Snakes seem fine, they were just all squeezed on the un-heated sides of their tubs. LOL

If it is malfunctioning you should unplug it. Turning it down is not the answer as it could still malfunction and deliver to much power causing it to overheat again.

I say get a tstat. A good tstat. I'm not sure what excuse you have for not having one already but I'm sure you will agree that the number of snakes you have in the rack are worth you spending the money to care for them in a way to better guarantee their health and safety.

With your ambient temps high enough I would unplug the heat and order a tstat.

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Originally Posted by KMG

If it is malfunctioning you should unplug it. Turning it down is not the answer as it could still malfunction and deliver to much power causing it to overheat again.

I say get a tstat. A good tstat. I'm not sure what excuse you have for not having one already but I'm sure you will agree that the number of snakes you have in the rack are worth you spending the money to care for them in a way to better guarantee their health and safety.

With your ambient temps high enough I would unplug the heat and order a tstat.

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Well, I'm already stuck at work now - so hopefully my pulling the tubs out (so they're not over the heat tape) will protect them if it surges again!

As for why I don't have a thermostat, as I said, the rheostats usually work fine in our very mild climate. All but one of my 4 racks has been on a rheo for 5+ years, and this is literally the FIRST time it's been an issue. So it isn't a money thing, since I can get a thermostat for $20-40 online, it just hasn't seemed necessary. But yes, money is pretty tight these days. Not sure where to get one around here, though, so I'll have to order it online if I go that route. In the meantime, would it be worth buying a new rheostat - or should I just leave it unplugged for the time being?

Yes buy a new one as the one you have does not seem to be working correctly.

I'm not sure what tstat is good quality for $20-40. When I said good I meant Herpstat, VE, Helix, etc. You get what you pay for with tstats.

What you need to do is save up and get a Herpstat 4. That could control all your racks with one tstat. That's what I would do.

Update: I just called the only "reptile specialty" shop nearby, and they do have a Repti-Temp500 in stock for $39. Will that do the trick? I can't afford to buy three today, but at least I can hook up the rack that's malfunctioning!

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Originally Posted by KMG

Yes buy a new one as the one you have does not seem to be working correctly.

I'm not sure what tstat is good quality for $20-40. When I said good I meant Herpstat, VE, Helix, etc. You get what you pay for with tstats.

What you need to do is save up and get a Herpstat 4. That could control all your racks with one tstat. That's what I would do.

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That would be ideal, but I'm trying to downsize my collection quite a bit right now (partly because of the money issues). So I'm hoping to have only 1-2 racks soon! I'll just get the Repti-Temp for now, as I mentioned above, and wait on getting anything fancier until I know the status of my collection. Have you heard anything good or bad about those?

P.S. I just looked up the Herpstat 4, and it's waaaaay out of my budget @ $395. I can't even save that kind of money at the moment, so that's unfortunately not going to happen. Hence, the reason I can no longer maintain such a large collection... life in the Bay Area for a single person is expensive, even with a solid middle-class salary like mine. How sad. :(

They are not digital and have a track record of not lasting. I got one with a snake I bought and was using it until my Herpstat arrived. It failed before my unit arrived. Now the previous had it a couple years so it survived awhile but I have yet to have a Herpstat fail. It is not the same caliber of tstat as your collection. You are no novice so don't use the entry level gear.

When you look at how much money you have in snakes but how little money you have in temperature control its to far off. Certainly a collection worth over a thousand dollars is worth a couple hundred dollars of tstats.

So buy another dimmer to use while you downsize your collection. Just selling a few snakes would give you plenty of money for a Herpstat 2 which would be perfect for two racks. I would also suggest looking around for a used one. Many people are downsizing their collection so they are hitting the market pretty often.

Not sure where you priced the Herpstats but the 4 straight from the source is $340. Here is their site. They ship quick. Got mine in two days.
http://www.spyderrobotics.com/store/

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Originally Posted by KMG

They are not digital and have a track record of not lasting. I got one with a snake I bought and was using it until my Herpstat arrived. It failed before my unit arrived. Now the previous had it a couple years so it survived awhile but I have yet to have a Herpstat fail. It is not the same caliber of tstat as your collection. You are no novice so don't use the entry level gear.

When you look at how much money you have in snakes but how little money you have in temperature control its to far off. Certainly a collection worth over a thousand dollars is worth a couple hundred dollars of tstats.

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Again, that is why I'm trying to downsize the collection! My situation was a bit different when I got into snakes, but it's just not feasible for me anymore... I am living basically paycheck-to-paycheck right now, and simply cannot afford $400 on ANYTHING. And for the last 5+ years, the setup and equipment I have has worked just fine, so it hasn't been something I've thought about for a while.

(and yes, I could obtain some money in a real emergency - but those funds aren't easy to get, so I'd rather save them for something like a vet/medical emergency)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KMG

So buy another dimmer to use while you downsize your collection. Just selling a few snakes would give you plenty of money for a Herpstat 2 which would be perfect for two racks. I would also suggest looking around for a used one. Many people are downsizing their collection so they are hitting the market pretty often.

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I have a handful of snakes listed for sale right now, but so far nobody has replied... I'm almost desperate enough to sell them to the vivarium (East Bay), but really want to avoid that if possible. I'll see what I can do for the time being, but even $340 isn't doable at the moment.

I will look for a used one, though, and thanks for your advice thus far. Sorry if I seem at all defensive, I've just been stressing over the whole situation for a while. I don't want to sell my snakes! :(

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

I have a handful of snakes listed for sale right now, but so far nobody has replied... I'm almost desperate enough to sell them to the vivarium (East Bay), but really want to avoid that if possible. I'll see what I can do for the time being, but even $340 isn't doable at the moment.

I will look for a used one, though, and thanks for your advice thus far. Sorry if I seem at all defensive, I've just been stressing over the whole situation for a while. I don't want to sell my snakes! :(

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I was just letting you know wherever you priced it has a good mark up on them.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I was just letting you know wherever you priced it has a good mark up on them.

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That price was on Amazon... I hadn't "shopped around" yet, just grabbed the first listing I saw. Do you think I could find a used one on Fauna or Kingsnake?

I'll email you a bit later (still at work, lol) - also in regards to the PM you sent. ;)

- - - Updated - - -

Btw, I had my neighbor (who has a key to my place) check on the snakes about an hour ago... she said the temperature is 81, so at least I know they're not cooking right now!

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

That price was on Amazon... I hadn't "shopped around" yet, just grabbed the first listing I saw. Do you think I could find a used one on Fauna or Kingsnake?

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Yes.

I have actually bought one on here and two on fauna. My Herpstat4 I bought new from Spyderrobotics.

When I got home tonight, I realized two things... first, the "rheostat" which malfunctioned was actually a thermostat, as it did allow me to dial in a specific temperature. But it was one of those cheap models (ZooMed?) and around 4-5 years old, so I guess it just reached the end of its life.

The other thing I realized was that the thermostat which controls another rack is a Herpstat, probably the base model and about 5 years old. It hasn't failed me yet, however, and always holds temps very reliably. So I hooked up one of the heat strips from the other rack (which had the malfunction), and it's measuring a steady 95F directly on the tape now.

I don't know the model name/number of that Herpstat, but will post a picture below. Do you think it could handle controlling two racks for a while? The one it controls now is a 4-tub 40qt Boaphile with one cord attached to all heat strips, and the other rack has 5 shelves with 5 separate cords for the strips. I'd have to get creative with the extension cords, but that's worked fine in the past (with a functioning thermostat). At least it could be a temporary solution, as I wasn't able to find anything decent at the pet shop.

Here's that Herpstat:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...psyyjxmdky.jpg

Are the two racks flexwatt the same width? If the flexwatt is not identical it could cause different temps in the two racks. I bet the tstat will handle the load but I would look on the back for its rating and make sure the two racks stay within it.