Zoo Med 500 Thermostat... Just some info

Ok guys so here it goes... I've affixed my kpot for those of you that want to yell at me.. but its just a little information I have obtained after a month or so of back and forth with heat and humidity issues...

I know the zoo med thermostat has a bad wrap on this forum, and many people have talked about how evil and unreliable they are, and possible bad experiences, but after using it for a while I have found a few things out....

WARNING: THE ZOO MED CAN BE USED EFFICIENTLY IF AND ONLY IF YOU HAVE A GOOD DIGITAL THERMOMETER, WITH THE HOT SIDE PROBE IN THE SAME AREA AS THE ZOO MED PROBE. FOR USE ON THE UTH ONLY.

First off: My attempt was to build the best possible system for my BP on a reasonable budget. After a few photo checks on the forum I was set up with a 20G tank, repti carpet, two matching hides, a UTH, day/night heat lamp etc.....

The largest problem I find here is people saying it is unreliable, mostly because it does not have a digital display of temperature, only a dial adjustment. Also, people tend to say that it does not stay at the temp you set it at..... In fact it doesn't, it has a 4 degree F "switch"... IE: on at 90 off at 94, waits till it drops to 90 before turning back on.

Simply put, place the hot side temp probe under the hot side hide. Place the zoo med probe under the hot side hide as well... Monitor the peak and drop of the thermostat until you have it in the 90 on, 94 off setting... Put the cover on, no problem....

$25 thermostat working perfectly...

Also: Zoo med rheostat on the heat lamp allows me to "adjust the cool side quite easily... The thermostat holds the hot side no matter what the other influence, and the rheo can let me set the cool side to 82 on the nose...

Just my 02... Hope this helps someone who is stuck with the Zoo Med, or in a long wait for their super expensive versions...

-Camp

haha!! i figured out the 4 degree thing the other day, after dinking with the stupid dial for weeks!! like you said it goes to 95, then down to 91, i think im still gonna get a ranco or something once i get a rack.

Hi,


And if the snake moves the probe?:P

I thought the main gripe people had with it was the greater possibility of it stopping working alltogether and jamming full on cooking their snakes?

I agree that it sounds quite tricky to dial in but a 4 degree cycle out of a normally recomended 10 degree thermal gradient in the tank sounds like a lot to me.:confused: :(

Have you found out what the temp setting is at the top of its range? I ask because if you had a large enough range you could move the probe outside the tank and attatch it to the uth between the tank and the mat or just on the top of the uth if there was space and dial it in from there.


dr del

When i hooked it up to a uth directly outside of a tank I was able to cook it up to 104 as per an attached thermometer.....

But can't a snake move a probe on a ranco or other type thermostat also???

I place the probe wire under the repti carpet and the probe comes out of a small slit (with the temp probe).

It was actually very easy to dial it in, just needed the knowledge about the 4 degree span.. Given, the super digital ones would be easier, this is what i have to work with.

And at the same time... I dont know about the turning off all together.. but the temperature difference (cooking) is explained in the 4 degree span...

IE: someone unaware of this sets the thermostat to turn on at 94, not knowing this is going to be the bottom of the spectrum... This individual will be upset to find out an hour later that the thermostat is but starting to heat at 94, and then cooks up 98 or so.....

Understanding that the thermostat turns on, then heats to 4 degrees higher than its starting point, allows one to control it properly...

Does anyone know the 'cycle' of the Rancos or other higher-end t-stats?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcampos

When i hooked it up to a uth directly outside of a tank I was able to cook it up to 104 as per an attached thermometer.....

But can't a snake move a probe on a ranco or other type thermostat also???

I place the probe wire under the repti carpet and the probe comes out of a small slit (with the temp probe).

It was actually very easy to dial it in, just needed the knowledge about the 4 degree span.. Given, the super digital ones would be easier, this is what i have to work with.

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Hi,

Yes they can move those probes as well - though the slit in the repti-carpet might stop them physically moving yours too much. Mind you doesn't stop them P'ing on it.

If it can be done it's probably a better idea to have it attatched to the heater outside the tank so the snake cannot cause it any problems at all. If it can be set as high as you've found reliably then it should be possible to do.

I still think the 4 degree span is a bit large for my tastes and I would probably put a good dimmer switch in line before the thermostat as I have read too many reports of them failing to be entirely comfortable trusting my snakes health to them.:(

Each to their own but for a saving of under $55 I'd pass.

And for a really economical setup of course I cannot recomend tubs highly enough.:D


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swingline0.0.1

Does anyone know the 'cycle' of the Rancos or other higher-end t-stats?

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Hi,

I'm sure I recall someone saying you could actually set that on at least some of them.

I think it might have been Adam but hopefully someone will be able to confirm or deny that for you.


dr del

Yeah, I'm sure the proportional ones have a much smaller variance, but we were sort of talking about an economical solution!

Do the tub setups usually require a secondary heat source?

My only problem is everyone says, I've heard reports, or I know a guy etc.... No one that has pmed me about the repti temp has said it just died, only people who apparently didnt understand the thermostat setting....

I think the majority of people here have a high speed, low drag, lots of cash out system with all the bells and whistles. I'm not saying that is bad in any way, but some people can't spend the extra cash...

My particular situation... I can spend the cash, I choose not too because my system works very well now that I understand it. Had my BP for about a month now... perfect temps all the way around.. humidity is good... eats every 5 days like a champ... Never struck at me, and gets carried around the house for about 30 minutes a day.... I wish my dogs were that maintenance free.

Heh... I'll put my :2cent: in here because I own both a new Johnson and a reptitemp 500R.

I was reluctant to use the 500R on my BP tank because of their 'just so' temp needs, so I got a Johnson. I admit, I haven't even hooked it up yet because the rheostat, combined with the constant heat we've been having here, has been keeping her temps just right and I don't want to mess with something that isn't broken as it were. Make no mistake, as soon as the temps here start fluctuating I'm hooking that baby up.

As far as the 500R, I just set it up, with a rheostat as backup, on my new corn snake tank. It took some tweaking, but I finally found that working area. My problem now is that since it's a 10gal, I can't seem to get a temp gradient in the cage...it's the same temp throughout except under the warm hide, which is about 4 degrees higher (it's that 4 degree thing). So far so good, but with all the stuff I've heard about the things failing, I'm just glad I have the rheo as backup and that corns can handle temp fluctuations better.

Hi,


Just so you know - I'm unemployed so definately not cash encumbered.:)

I built most of my tanks myself and have been inventive in finding solutions for problems as I encountered them over the years.

Your wrong about the not understanding the temp thing being the cause of burns though - a 4 degree difference from 95 would not cause that. A full on failure would however.

I'm glad your setup is working well for you just now but in the years I've been keeping reptiles and exotics the biggest cause of loss of life has been through thermostats failing and leaving the heaters unregulated - so far that has cost me a beautiful panther chameleon (sp) male I watched hatch and raised to maturity and a full colony of madagascar day geckos.:(

Since I am desperately trying to get a rack built and all my snakes would be relying on just 2 thermostats I am paying a bit more attention to their respective reputations than I used to and, frankly, I'm convinced enough I wouldn't use a zoomed if they paid me. Each to his own however and I hope it gives you many years to trouble free use.

And actually a lot of the people on here use tub systems which, while providing the snakes needs extraordinarily well, are definately quite inexpensive to set up and maintain - you could probably have saved enough money not buying your tank setup to get one of the recomended brands of thermostat. I'm just guessing of course.:)


dr del

yeah i just bought it last week and i see that i set to something specific using my digital thermometer and then goes down. i find it quite annoying since i cant keep it at a steady temp.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swingline0.0.1

Does anyone know the 'cycle' of the Rancos or other higher-end t-stats?

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Are you asking when they turn off/on?

I have my two Rancos set with a 1 degree variance (you can set the degree variance on the Rancos). So, off at 94, back on at 93.

My Helix varies the amount of power to keep the temperature consistent, within less than a degree (I can't remember it exactly right now, perphaps someone else will pipe in). Another reason so many prefer proportional thermostats when incubating eggs, because there is the most minimal of temp fluctuations with Helix and Herpstat.

Whats funny is its only like 15 or 20 $ more to get a ranco or johnson control!!! If no one listens to anything i say just this one thing " just spend a little extra money to keep your snakes healthy and happy get a herpstat or a helix"!!!!!!! :2cent:

Zoo med = $20
Ranco = $75

There is a difference for some..

And yes.... Not knowing about the variance can cause problems... IE setting the temp to 95 and letting it go up to 99 or 100....

Now again... another person with a complaint who doesnt understand the variance...

Can someone who had a zoo med thermostat WHO HAD A FAILURE, and by that I mean an actual failure not a poorly set thermostat, please post their story about exactly how it happened...

This is not a challenge to speak of how great the cheap zoo meds are, but rather I would like to hear it from someone who actually had a problem, along with what and how the problem came about...