tempermental heating equipment

I have a Zoo Med ReptiTemp 500R and a ZM Rheostat, both of which fluctuate a good bit. Neither of these devices seem capable of keeping the cool side UTH between 80 and 84, they both want to go much higher, even on the lowest setting (I use the Rheostat for the hot side and the 500R for the cool side, but both are lacking at best). Has anyone else had this problem?? They are both very inconsistent and are bothering me b/c I do not want my BP to become stressed due to bad temps. I was trying to avoid buying a $100+ thermostat, which is why I chose this cheaper alternative...I guess you get what you pay for. Anybody have a good thermostat they want to get rid of for cheap??? Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but they seem pretty idiot-proof. Also, since the problem is them getting too hot, is there a good material to put in between the glass and the substrate? If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for reading this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmich132

I have a Zoo Med ReptiTemp 500R and a ZM Rheostat, both of which fluctuate a good bit. Neither of these devices seem capable of keeping the cool side UTH between 80 and 84, they both want to go much higher, even on the lowest setting (I use the Rheostat for the hot side and the 500R for the cool side, but both are lacking at best). Has anyone else had this problem?? They are both very inconsistent and are bothering me b/c I do not want my BP to become stressed due to bad temps. I was trying to avoid buying a $100+ thermostat, which is why I chose this cheaper alternative...I guess you get what you pay for. Anybody have a good thermostat they want to get rid of for cheap??? Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but they seem pretty idiot-proof. Also, since the problem is them getting too hot, is there a good material to put in between the glass and the substrate? If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for reading this.

---

The zoo med stuff is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to controlling temps ... personally, I'd rather just use some $9 dimmers from Home Depot over those things ... But think about it like this ... you have chosen to take a living animal into your home and provide it care for the rest of it's life (potentially 30+ years) ... THE MOST important thing that animal needs to survive is correct temperatures ... If you save up for a quality, reliable proportional thermostat that is perfect at doing what it's supposed to do it's going to run you around $130 (give or take depending on brand) ... over the lifetime of your animal that's only $4.33 per year ... $.36 per month ... $.01 per day ... to insure that the animal that you are caring for has EXACTLY what it needs to survive and thrive.

No brainer if you ask me. ;) :D

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

The zoo med stuff is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to controlling temps ... personally, I'd rather just use some $9 dimmers from Home Depot over those things ... But think about it like this ... you have chosen to take a living animal into your home and provide it care for the rest of it's life (potentially 30+ years) ... THE MOST important thing that animal needs to survive is correct temperatures ... If you save up for a quality, reliable proportional thermostat that is perfect at doing what it's supposed to do it's going to run you around $130 (give or take depending on brand) ... over the lifetime of your animal that's only $4.33 per year ... $.36 per month ... $.01 per day ... to insure that the animal that you are caring for has EXACTLY what it needs to survive and thrive.

No brainer if you ask me. ;) :D

-adam

---

I agree with Adam that zoomed stuff is crap! Adam i cracked up at how you broke it down to a penny a day lol:8: .True but still funny:P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joepythons

I agree with Adam that zoomed stuff is crap! Adam i cracked up at how you broke it down to a penny a day lol:8: .True but still funny:P

---

Small price to pay to insure the well being of a living animal in your care. ;)

-adam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joepythons

I agree with Adam that zoomed stuff is crap!

---

Ah Nertz!! I just bought one of their heat cables to test for a rack. It was 12 meters and 100 watts and the only other one I can find is by "rena" and is 15 meters but still only 100 watts so I figured the zoomed would heat more. :(


dr del

zoo med can kiss my a$$...either way, I figured that was the response I would get, and thanks for making it clear. I was just hoping to find a cheaper alternative than $130, but sometimes I guess you just gotta spend the money.

ESU makes one that some members here, including myself use. It is only like 30 bucks shipped and so far, I am happy with mine!

I only use this because I needed a quick thermostat and this was the quickest one to ship at the time (I did not know about reptilebasics) and it has not let me down. If you can, save $75 and go with a Johnson Controls or Ranco thermostat. They are reliable thermostats and members here also use them with good things to say, including myself. Mine heats a 10 tub rack for me and keeps all my temps within a degree of where I set them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

ESU makes one that some members here, including myself use. it is only like 30 bucks shipped and so far, i am happy with mine!

---

I've used the ESU unit in the past ... garbage ... but that's only my opinion of course.

-adam

So I'm going to bite the bullet and buy what I need....what are the best thermostats for the money? Ranco? Johnson? Any info you could give on that would be great, seeing as how I've tried and failed twice now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carmich132

what are the best thermostats for the money?

---

Helix or Herpstat.

-adam

Its hard to explain the difference between GOOD thermostats like Helix or Herpstat and other traditional on/off style thermostats.

You have to just take the plunge and buy one. You order one, receive it, set it up...and something amazing happens - the heat actually stays at the temperature you set it at! Once you go proportional, you can't go back...

The fact that you have to constantly tweak the pet store garbage like ZooMed and ESU is an indicator of their quality. I had a ZooMed thermostat a long time ago that just quit working. It didn't cut off the power though, it just allowed it to run at full blast. Good thing I caught it when it happened.

I'm in for buying whatever will work the best now, simply because I'm tired of fighting these other crappy controls. Does a Helix or Herpstat control BOTH the hot and cool side (I ask b/c I have a UTH on both sides to make sure the temps dont get too low). I have zero experience with these products, so you're input is always appreciated.

No, each thermostat controls one heating device. If you have 2 heat sources controlling each side of the cage, you'll need two thermostats (although herpstat sells a proportional thermostat with more than one temperature zone, but those are $$$).

What a proportional thermostat does is this: While typical on/off thermostats will allow a full current of electricity to reach the heating element until the desired temperature is reached and then turn "off", and on back again....Proportional thermostats gradually adjust the output of power to the heating element to maintain a much more stable temperature. Think of it like an automatic rheostat.

Yea I understand what you're saying about the proportional thermostat, so I guess what I'm asking is: how does everyone else heat their cool side (in a glass cage) between 80-84 (for people not using rack systems, etc) ?

Usually, if you can get a hotspot of 92 on one side, the rest of the cage follows suit, you can expect the cool side to be 8-10 degrees cooler.

If you are keeping the cage in a room that is very cold, a space heater is going to be the easiest way to maintain your cool side temps. Sometimes bumping up the room temperature a few degrees is all you need to get your cool side temps in the acceptable range.

I've got a boa downstairs in my living room in a display tank...over the winter (if you could call our winter so far a "winter") I've had to run a space heater next to the cage to keep the cool side from dropping too much. The room temp w/o the space heater is anywhere from 68-72. Running the space heater next to the cage keeps the cool side temp no lower than 80. Its worked great!

Alternatively, you could plug both the cool side heating element and the warm side heating element into the thermostat and use an appliance dimmer from home depot on the cool side heating element to adjust the "differential" between the cool side and the warm side ... you just gradually step the dimmer down to get them temp that you need and then fix it into position with some glue or tape ... that way, when the room temp fluctuates, both sides of the enclosure adjust accordingly ... the only caveat is that your heating elements are poweful enough to heat the cage to the proper temps given the ambient temperatures of the room.

-adam

The herpstatpro is pricey but it controls up to 4 different areas with 4 probes. The one device replaced 3 rancos I was using, does more and is accurate with night drop if you want. It could control both sides to what ever you want and 2 thermostats would cost you as much.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I've used the ESU unit in the past ... garbage ... but that's only my opinion of course.

-adam

---

Adam,were you having certain problems with them or ? I have several in use now and no problems with them.Just wondering because you are the second person that had problems out of them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joepythons

Adam,were you having certain problems with them or ? I have several in use now and no problems with them.Just wondering because you are the second person that had problems out of them.

---

I had one die completely ... and I had another that just couldn't keep up with temp changes at all ... the room temp would drop a couple of degrees and the ESU unit would take hours to get the cages to the correct temps ... it was ridiculous ... I replaced them with Helix's and never looked back.

-adam

I had two ESU's a while back and one died immediately the other one wasn't very accurate. Not good odds so I don't use them anymore

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

I had one die completely ... and I had another that just couldn't keep up with temp changes at all ... the room temp would drop a couple of degrees and the ESU unit would take hours to get the cages to the correct temps ... it was ridiculous ... I replaced them with Helix's and never looked back.

-adam

---

Wow thats wild! Thanks for letting me know.The other person said the temps would go up then down constantly.I guess i will keep an eye on them.

those alife and esu thermostats are made with bi-metal coils that expand and contract. that technology is 80+ years old. they also can vary +/- of 3-5 degrees!:mad: rancos and johnsons are digital, made with solid state relays, +/- to one deg.:D


proportionals are golden! a nice helix and some flexwatt is all you need!


:soapbx: :rockon: :partyon:


vaughn

I use a Herpstat 2 and also have two JC tstats. The JC units are used with my baby tubs that have 2 separately wired pieces of 11" flexwatt(each is one foot long).

One piece is plugged directly into the thermostat, while the other piece is plugged into a Lutron Credenza dimmer from Home Depot, and then plugged into the thermostat. Once you get the temperatures set on the cool side, they never fluctuate and the temps stay in the 94/84 range. Works well for anyone on a budget :) $70 for the JC unit and another $11 for the dimmer(which is plug and play).

Herpstat 2's can also control 2 separate heating devices, and I use one output to control the warm side of my rack. The other output controls the cool side flexwatt. Works great!

I would like a Helix one day just so I can have some comparison and get some experience with all of the good tstats.