Big Apple Herp - Intellitemp UTH

[therieldeal]

Right now i have some old looking zoomed UTH's, they came stuck to the tanks i'm using. They work, but they get quite hot. at first i was cycling them on and off every 15 mins with a timer, now i've switched to a rheostat which is working pretty well.

Ive been thinking i should replace them because they seem old, and who knows if they have been overheated or damaged in some way that could pose a fire hazard. Ive been looking into replacements and the various available brands, and i came across the Intellitemp brand. I cant find much for reviews aside from the video on their website lol. Is anyone using these? what are your thoughts on them?

Thanks

[AkHerps]

Why not flex watt?

[therieldeal]

well for $50 i can have a pair of heating pads in the size i need... can i set up flexwatt for that little?

i am picking up a used zoomed thermostat tomorrow from someone very cheap, i was going to run the rheostat after the thermostat... i'll set the rheostat for ~95*, then dial it back to 90-92 with the thermostat. if the thermostat ever fails it will go up to 95... low enough that it wont hurt anyone but high enough that i'll notice.

[therieldeal]

Well I ended up ordering some 11" flexwatt for like $3.40 a foot plus $5 each for the cords/clips/insulators. Pretty darn affordable... ordered from Reptile Basics Inc.

Now i just need to grab some plexiglass to help w/ humidity, and i should be all set! At least until it gets colder... i'll need some sort of additional heating once fall/winter hits.

[AkHerps]

haha yeah I was going to tell you flex watt is super cheap! I'm going to get some soon from them! I'm also working on how to get all the proper temps. You can also use the DIY tinfoil and duct tape method for keeping in heat and humidity, it's really cool and easy to do.

[therieldeal]

i think plexi glass should work really well, i should be able to buy thin stuff and use some foam double sided tape to attach it to the outside of my screen lid frames. i have the (zoo med?) 40 gallon breeder size tanks, with the nice sliding screen lids w/ sturdy frames.

[OhhWatALoser]

Right now i have some old looking zoomed UTH's, they came stuck to the tanks i'm using. They work, but they get quite hot. at first i was cycling them on and off every 15 mins with a timer, now i've switched to a rheostat which is working pretty well.

Ive been thinking i should replace them because they seem old, and who knows if they have been overheated or damaged in some way that could pose a fire hazard. Ive been looking into replacements and the various available brands, and i came across the Intellitemp brand. I cant find much for reviews aside from the video on their website lol. Is anyone using these? what are your thoughts on them?

Thanks

They get quite hot... how hot? Flexwatt unregulated will get 150+ degrees

You can tell if they have been overheated (the only way this would happen if it was shorted and running unregulated) or damaged would be to let it run unregulated for a few hours (obviously without the animal in it), does it destroy itself, get hot enough to light up something, start tripping breakers/fuses? if not, its fine.

all a uth is a resistor, you run electricity through it, it heats up. about the only thing that changes with brands are how hot it get unregulated, their heating elements will be different resistances. but they are all the same thing and they really don't go bad as long as their taken care of. chances are the ones our using are fine.

i think your money would be better invested in a better way to regulate it, assuming the uth you have are good, which im guessing they are.