Help! My rack is acting up!

Ok. I built a melamine rack about two weeks ago and let the temps even out to 91 on the hot side and 81 on the cool side. Humdity was perfect, 58%. So I put the snakes in and it was fine for a few more days, then the temps started going crazy. The top tub only got to 88 on the hot side and the one right below that was at 94. The rack is wired with 1' sections of 11'' Flexwatt (belly heat) and is controlled by a Helix DBS-1000. The probe is taped to the underside of the middle tub (there are five tubs). The thermometer probes are taped in the same spot to the bottom of each tub. I thought I did everything right, but I just can't get the temps to even out like they were before. I really need help here. I'm stumped! :confused: :confused: :confused:

can you get some pics of the rack so we can better see hoy you have it wired??

How is the Flex wired? Also, have you tried switching the thermometers to see if they were off? Try using the same thermometer in the same tub and switch the tub to different slots.

if the top piece of flex watt isn't connected good it'll no heat as well.

Rich at Reptile Basics wired it for me. here's a picture of when i first put it together...

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/Bike014a.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...a/Bike013a.jpg

I'll try switching the tubs and thermometers around.

It was consistant for three days strait. The rack did not move at all, so the wiring couldnt' have come loose. I dont' know why it would just change all of a sudden.

you got AC in that room?

nope. a space heater though. Its set at the same temp all of the time though.. The room stays 78 degrees.

HMMMMM did you try moving the tubs around to see if its just a glitch?

thats what i'm trying. I'll let you know how that goes.

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Originally Posted by casperca

thats what i'm trying. I'll let you know how that goes.

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Cool this has me puzzled.

Your pics aren't very clear, but it looks like you have different ventilation holes in your tubs. You may be getting more air circulation in some which would give you different temps.

Good thinking. I switched the tubs around and am waiting to see if that will make a difference. In the mean time i'm going to run to the store and get a couple more tubs to make the holes uniform. Thanks for the help guys. I'll check back to let you know.

okay. All of teh tubs have the same number of holes and the holes are in teh same position. I tried switching the different tubs around to see if that was it but the temps are still fluctuating. I checked on it an hour ago and the temps were 93 on the top, then 95, 91, 90 going down the rack. I just checked back and they were 94, 92, 90, 91. This is really getting frustrating. I moved the probe to directly on the heat tape to try to keep the one below 95. The room temp is staying constant, I really don't know what could be wrong here. Anyone else have any idea what could be happening?? I want to get this straitened out ASAP!! :confused: :confused:

Everything I've read says that racks tend to be a bit warmer at the top due to hot air rising. One breeder I asked about it told me that he keeps males in the cooler bottom tubs or doesn't use them at all. Also, while you are experimenting, keep in mind that the heat tape takes several hours to stabilize so checking every hour may give you inaccurate temps.

thanks for the tips. I'll keep that in mind when I check next.