Acu-rite Humidity Accuracy

I bought a couple of these a while back from Wal-Mart but i'm not sure where to put the probe at in my tub so i ended upplaced it on the bottom below the bedding (its aspen) where it would read my Hot side temperature. The Acu-rite would read my temperature really well but the humidity was really low, around 39. Now i have these thermometers in a 15 qt tub and i thought that the tub would hold the humidity well but it doesn't seem to be doing the job according to the Acu-rite Unit. So i wanted a second opinion and i bought a Fluker's Digital Thermo-humidity Gauge. I put that in the tub and it says my humidity is 75+. So my questions are, How Accurate are these Acu-rite Thermometers when it comes to measuring the humidity? Could it be because i just have the probe inside the tub and not the actual unit? Everybody says get a digital thermo-humidity gauge and i did that but to have such a big difference in humidity readings is confusing and it makes me wonder if i'm actually giving my snakes to little humdity or to much.

You need to have the entire unit inside the snake enclosure since the Acurite humidity sensor is on the unit itself.

As for accuracy, all of mine read within 4% of each other and they are also all within 5% of all of the other hygrometers that I have tested them against.

Yes, the unit itself has to be inside of the tub to read the humidity inside the tub. The probe should go under the hide...or just on the warm side of the tub if you aren't using hides in a rack system

Welp...starmom beat me

alright cool, i will try that tonight when i get home. Now about the Flukers Thermo-humidity gauge, Do you think these models are accurate? I have Two little 6 qt tubs that are on the same shelf with the exact same holes drilled in on both tubs and one gives me a humidity reading at 66 but the other one will say 73.

I have read on this forum that Flukers are less than accurate (no pun intended) :P; but I have never used one myself

well if that is the case, i'm screwed haha. Those things cost 20 bucks each at the petsmarts/petco. Well the one issue i have with the acu-rite unit is that the wire is so long and the unit is somewhat big, having it inside the tub, especially a 6qt one, doesn't really give the little snakes much room to work with. I know i can hide the wire under the bedding but the unit is so bulky.

Salt test all your stuff.

Put your device in a ziploc bag. Then get a lid from a pop bottle. Fill it about halfway with salt. Then add just enough water to make it all wet.
Place it inside the bag with the Acurite. Close it and leave it for 2 to 3 hours. Your device should read 75% every time. Neat little trick, but it works.

That way you can judge how far off they are.

Trevor

what would you recommend to use to keep the prob in place under the substrate? I know the probe comes with a little stick on but that wears off over time. I know tape is a no no but is there anything else i can use that would be safe?

Lots of people seem to use cage or tub decorations to hold the temp probe in place. Me? I use a temp gun and only have the Acurites in a few cages and tubs as a humidity check :gj:

same here i only have a few in a few cages not all of them. I also use the temp gun for checking temps

I just happen to order a temp gun from rich last night and will be here by friday. when you measure the temps with the gun, are you looking for the temp on top of the substrate or below it? the reason i ask is because i know mine tend to borrow a bit

It's good to know both. You want to know the temp of the substrate where their belly will be, but also need to know that if they do burrow down the surface directly over the UTH won't burn them. Always remember that IR temp guns give faulty readings on glass and reflective surfaces. Shouldn't be a problem with your tubs.

so i finally got my RBI 32qt Rack w/ belly heat and dividers from Rich the other day. I started drilling my holes for ventilation and humidity control but now i'm sorta lost. First off, The temps on the bottom two racks are around 92-95 degrees but the top two are 87-89 degrees. Is this normal? I have my helix temp probe on the heat tape where the top tub is located at. Another problem i'm having is the humidity. Before i drilled any holes, i put the Acu-rite Unit inside the top tub. On the left of the divider, it said the humidity was 70 but when i put it on the right side of the divider, the humidity just says high. I started drilling holes and i have a total of 69 holes on each side of the tub. Now the left side says 62 but the right still says high. What am i to believe? Its the same tub with both sides having the same amount of vent holes and the same size water dishes. I bought The Complete Ball Python book from Rich when i ordered my rack. The Author of the book stated that as long as there isn't any condensation on the tub, its ok. Is that right? He's the guy that started NERD, i big breeder, should i believe him?

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Originally Posted by thefnshow66

I just happen to order a temp gun from rich last night and will be here by friday. when you measure the temps with the gun, are you looking for the temp on top of the substrate or below it? the reason i ask is because i know mine tend to borrow a bit

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Thats the best part of temp guns, is you can check the temps for every inch of your enclosure! The top of the tub, the substrate, under the substrate, the heat source, etc.....

I know it's been a while, but I was going to say, the Flukers we have has been a very good thermometer/hygrometer.

Sometimes when Accurites get wet, get substrate stuck in them or the batteries are low, they will say some goofy things.

We have a bunch of Accurites, and they are all within that 4% difference.

I run multiple accurites(ask Heather she makes fun of me, LOL) and most are right on but you always get that one that is just out of wack. Thats why its good to have a few so you can test how accurate the actually are.

Humidity gages can be damaged alot easier then the themometer part in my experience.

It's best to have multiple means of measuring when you use tubs. For the smaller tubs, I use ExoTerra, Zilla or Coralife probed thermometer and hygrometers. Just place the probes in the tub and the units outside with their suction cups and you're good to go.

units outside tub
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...etub-front.jpg

probes inside tub
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...tub-inside.jpg


For tanks and larger tubs, I place the Acurite unit in the center to read ambient temp/humidity with the probe under the warm hide (wire held down by the hide or by a suction cup under the bedding). To read cool side, I have an Acurite single unit or an ExoTerra/Zilla/Coralife with just the probe in the tank/tub.

Like this:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...BP10gtank1.jpg

It works great and lets me get multiple readings. I also have a Temp gun that I use to double check readings and make sure batteries don't need replacing.

i have 4 Acurite Thermometers so i'll test out my tubs with all 4. Hopefully one is just bad because i have a hard time to believe that a 32qt tub that has 138 holes drilled holds so much humidity that the thermometer/humidity gauge just says High

That sounds like something got into the unit or the batteries need to be changed. When they get wet they go nuts, and if batteries are low they'll show some weird readings.