Having Major Problems with my set-up...HELP PLEASE!

Okay so I have my Ranco T-Stat and my UTH and my Thermometer set up and the warm side is only 83 degrees and the cool side is only 77 and i know it needs to be much higher...I have my Ranco set at 96....I have the thermostat probe inside the tank on top of the UTH and I have the thermometer on the cool side with that probe on the warm side under the hide....I don't understand how my heat could possibly be this low....the crazy thing is that I have my lights (what I used before UTH) still on for extra heat and it STILL is not even close to what the temp gradient must be :confused:....its like the UTH isnt doing anything or my Ranco isnt set right.....my Ranco has a differential of 1, S1 is set at 96, it is on Fahrenheit, and it is on H1.....I really don't know what is going on....

Well as a side note I'd stick the T-stat probe directly on the UTH and not inside the cage as the risk of it being bumped out of place by the snake and causing an overheating is real.

what kind of UTH is it? When it's not plugged into the T-stat does it heat properly?

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Well as a side note I'd stick the T-stat probe directly on the UTH and not inside the cage as the risk of it being bumped out of place by the snake and causing an overheating is real.

what kind of UTH is it? When it's not plugged into the T-stat does it heat properly?

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i had the t-stat probe taped onto the outside bottom of the cage and then someone else told me to put it inside....

it is a zoo med UTH, i dont kno yet if it heats properly without the t-stat

Well I will just say I would not put a probe in the cage.. I just can see the snake moving it away from the heat source causing the T-stat to put too much power to the heater.

Anyways.. in order to troubleshoot your problem you need to find out if the UTH is the problem or the T-stat. Test the UTH and see if it heats up on it's own.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Well I will just say I would not put a probe in the cage.. I just can see the snake moving it away from the heat source causing the T-stat to put too much power to the heater.

Anyways.. in order to troubleshoot your problem you need to find out if the UTH is the problem or the T-stat. Test the UTH and see if it heats up on it's own.

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okay, im going to do that right now, should i be able to feel the hotness when i touch the UTH?

Yes.. UTHs without T-stats get very hot.. be sure to take it off of your cage, or remove the snake.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Yes.. UTHs without T-stats get very hot.. be sure to take it off of your cage, or remove the snake.

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oh WOW...i took the UTH out of the T-Stat outlet and plugged it into some other outlet and now the temp is increasing drastically....but if i dont have the UTH plugged into the t-stat outlet then how is it supposed to control it?? :eek:

WOWWWWWW

im smacking myself right now...i am the dumbest person alive :mad:

i didnt have the button on the Ranco outlet on...it was set to OFF....thats why the UTH was not heating anything.....im so ashamed of myself for all my trouble being from such a stupid thing.....:colbert:

haha.. I have done the same thing. Glad you figured it out.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

haha.. I have done the same thing. Glad you figured it out.

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:lmao:

thanks a lot for all ur help in these wee hours in the morning

I have a similar question,

I'm using flexwatt heat tape and a ZooMed T-stat. I'm achieving pretty good temps with my current setup. The heat tape is under the glass tank and the probe to the T-stat is inside the tank under the hide on the warm side. It is a pretty consistant 90-92 oF
Should I use the heatape inside the tank? Also it was suggested that the t-stat probe be put under the tank next to the heattape but there would be no room.

Cold side of the tank still alittle low, around 75 am i'm using a 100watt heatbulb. i'm going to work on insulating the tank .. =-]

my temps are perfect right now....im so happy :D:):carrot::taz::sunny::salute:

You should never put the heat tape inside the tank.. there's is risk of electric shock.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

You should never put the heat tape inside the tank.. there's is risk of electric shock.

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what heat tape?

i have no heat tape

NEVERMIND, u r talking to rascal :rockon:

This is heat tape, flexwatt is a brand:
http://www.reptilebasics.com/store/p...cat=248&page=1

-sorry for hi-jacking your thread =-P

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Originally Posted by rmune0750

i had the t-stat probe taped onto the outside bottom of the cage and then someone else told me to put it inside....

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My thermostat probe is taped between the UTH and the enclosure on the outside.

Just a thought...for those of you with low cool-side temps. Every year around this time there's been more than a few threads with questions regarding cool-side temps being too low, etc...a lot of people ignore the simple fact that their room temperature over the winter is much lower now and your heating setup has to work much harder in a room that is 68 degrees than in a room that is 75.

Simply raising the temperature of the room will have a huge effect on the ambient temperatures in your cages.

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Originally Posted by rmune0750

WOWWWWWW

im smacking myself right now...i am the dumbest person alive :mad:

i didnt have the button on the Ranco outlet on...it was set to OFF....thats why the UTH was not heating anything.....im so ashamed of myself for all my trouble being from such a stupid thing.....:colbert:

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Ryan,it happens to us all lol.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

My thermostat probe is taped between the UTH and the enclosure on the outside.

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my t-stat probe is taped on the glass of the bottom of the tank under the newspaper substrate

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Well as a side note I'd stick the T-stat probe directly on the UTH and not inside the cage as the risk of it being bumped out of place by the snake and causing an overheating is real.

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In my experience, that causes the temperature to fluctuate when the room temperature fluctuates, defeating its purpose...