Heating pad problems

I've posted this on 2 other sites and so far nothing has worked and this is starting to get really discouraging. I've gone through 3 heating pads, done everything I could possibly think of, and nothing is fixing the heating problem. I use a Jumpstart Thermostat, Etekcity temp gun, and ultratherm heat pad. I've had the stat probe directly on the heating pad in the center, I moved it around when that didn't work, I had the tank directly on the heating pad, I had the tank held up on coasters, I switched to the small tank ''feet'' that come with some heating pads, I've taped the heating pad to the tank with the stat probe in between, I've taped the stat probe to the bottom of the tank and had the heat pad underneath it, I don't know what to do. I know that the stat needs to be set higher than the wanted temperature and I did that. It doesn't work. I had it set to 96 and the tank went to 93 so I turned it down 3 and it went down to 87 so I turned it up 1 and it's still on 87. It just does whatever. And it isn't because the room is too cold. There's a heater in the room that turns on and keeps it from getting too cold and turns off before it gets too hot.

I really don't know what to do anymore, any help is greatly appreciated.

Are you trying to control ambient temps with your UTH or simply trying to get a hot spot?

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Are you trying to control ambient temps with your UTH or simply trying to get a hot spot?

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Trying to get a hot spot

So what what the problem with 93 degrees?
A regulated heat pad will do little to nothing for ambient temperatures.
You are temping UNDER the substrate?
Thermostat probe outside the enclosure.

Ok. I'm not sure I'm reading your question right, but we'll see...

The probe goes outside the enclosure sandwiched between the UTH and the glass/tub.

The UTH should be stuck to the bottom of the enclosure (you may need to use aluminum tape)

The enclosure should be slightly elevated from the surface it's on to allow for airflow.

You should be using your temp gun to measure the actual surface temp, not the substrate.

Your tstat could be anywhere from 2-10° different from your actual surface temp. It's just a matter of trial and error with no one answer due to tons of variables.

For BPs you should be aiming for 88-89 for a hot spot.


I hope this helps. If not please feel free to follow up and I'll try to clarify. I kept my reply vague, so please forgive if I was too vague

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

So what what the problem with 93 degrees?
A regulated heat pad will do little to nothing for ambient temperatures.
You are temping UNDER the substrate?
Thermostat probe outside the enclosure.

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Well 93 degrees was a bit hot, plus it would still mess up and eventually go to another temperature.
Yes, I move the bedding and check the temp on the cage bottom.
The probe is outside on the heating pad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Ok. I'm not sure I'm reading your question right, but we'll see...

The probe goes outside the enclosure sandwiched between the UTH and the glass/tub.

The UTH should be stuck to the bottom of the enclosure (you may need to use aluminum tape)

The enclosure should be slightly elevated from the surface it's on to allow for airflow.

You should be using your temp gun to measure the actual surface temp, not the substrate.

Your tstat could be anywhere from 2-10° different from your actual surface temp. It's just a matter of trial and error with no one answer due to tons of variables.

For BPs you should be aiming for 88-89 for a hot spot.


I hope this helps. If not please feel free to follow up and I'll try to clarify. I kept my reply vague, so please forgive if I was too vague

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sorry it's a bit hard for me to describe what the problem is. To simplify everything, the heating pad is just heating it to random temperatures. I cannot control it with the thermostat because it will just do whatever. It isn't from a faulty heating pad because I've already bought 3.

I looked over everything that could possibly be wrong and what I'm seeing is that when the heating pad is first plugged in, it eventually heats up to a good temperature and the hot spot is perfect. After a while, the tank just isn't getting heated up. The heat pad is still working but not giving enough heat to the tank even when I turn it up higher. The only possible thing I can think of is that the thermostat turning the heating pad off is making the tank cool down quicker than it's being heated.

That just sounds like a fluctuation due to the "on/off" thermostat, as opposed to proportional thermostats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

That just sounds like a fluctuation due to the "on/off" thermostat, as opposed to proportional thermostats.

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I just don't understand why it's messing up this bad though. I know of lots of people that use the same kind as mine and don't have problems. Should I get a different thermostat then? If so which one(s) do you recommend?

He bud,

Multiple reasons:

1) Jumpstart and similar thermostats are on/off thermostats so that when temp > set temp (say 90 F) it shuts off electricity and the the heat starts to escape. As the temperature starts to drop (as measured by the probe), the thermostat allows power to reach the heat mat and so on and so forth. Some thermostats work by reducing the wattage?/voltage? that reaches the heat mat and thus reducing its temperature without abruptly shutting off.

2) I am guessing that your probe is giving you the temperature of whatever surface its touching and your temperature gun/reader is giving you the surface temperature inside the tank/vivarium and those are two different things because some of the temperature dissipates and some is absorbed by the medium (glass).

What I do, is I glue (glue-gun kind of glue) my temperature probes on the base of my hide so that the temperature those cheap thermostats (Jumpstart and co.) read is exactly the temperature the snake is touching