Rhp

[kitedemon]

I have bought a RHP to play with there are so many whom seem to be using them with terrestrial set ups that I figured I'd set up a test enclosure and see what it can do.

Where do you place the T-stat probe and do you use a fail safe and where do you place the probe for that?

I have seen the probe hung in arboreal set ups but with the limited height I am concerned that this will be too easily moved.

Suggestions?

[The Serpent Merchant]

RHP's aren't as prone to overheating like flexwatt is. What I have done in the 1 cage I have a RHP in was place the thermostat probe under my substrate and hot glued the cord to the bottom of the cage. This keeps the probe in the general area it needs to be. I then set the thermostat a degree or so below where I want the top of the substrate to be. I do not have a backup thermostat at this time.

[kitedemon]

Interesting, The panel I have Reptile basics hits 170ºF maxed out. My flexwatt maxed out hits 190ºF not very different. I guess that placement is as good as any I had thought to place the probe on top of the hide. But they move around too much.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Interesting, The panel I have Reptile basics hits 170ºF maxed out. My flexwatt maxed out hits 190ºF not very different. I guess that placement is as good as any I had thought to place the probe on top of the hide. But they move around too much.

170 wow I couldn't get mine over 98 on the cage floor (but it is mounted in a 2 foot tall enclosure so I'm sure that factors in) what wattage did you get?

[Skiploder]

I have bought a RHP to play with there are so many whom seem to be using them with terrestrial set ups that I figured I'd set up a test enclosure and see what it can do.

Where do you place the T-stat probe and do you use a fail safe and where do you place the probe for that?

I have seen the probe hung in arboreal set ups but with the limited height I am concerned that this will be too easily moved.

Suggestions?

Alex, I only use RHPs with my arboreals now - thrasops and spilotes.

I zip tie the t-stat probe to a the prime basking branch and I don't use a fail safe.

When I has womas and blackheaded pythons, I had a heck of a time with the snakes laying down on top of the probes. On the fail safe setup for those cages, I would place the probe halfway up the side of the cage and zip it to the wall. I would set it for the max ambient temp on the hot side of the cage.

[kitedemon]

Thanks guys I think I have found a good spot mounted under the RHP in a open position but one that cannot be dislodged.

Aaron that is the face of the panel wide open. max power. It is capable of much more heat that I expected. It is a 40w.

Skip I have never seen a RHP in anything other than a arboreal set up. I have been critical of using one in such a way but I believe that to be fair I should try it and see what happens. I have hoped to move the location of one of mine to a new location that is cooler than the one she is in now and I know the methods I have used to this point will not hold temps correctly so I am looking at options.

[whispersinmyhead]

Just thought I would share my little setup for my overhead heat and herpstat probe mount.

I have a fairly large piece of lexan underneath the substrate and I drilled holes in pairs so I could zip-tie the prob cord and the Plastic elbow (that has three holes and flat base found in plumbing section of hardware store). Drilled a hole out the back of the cage.

I am using a CHE in a cage which OP and the Serpant Merchant with a few others helped out with converting over from Beardie use to BP.

She hasn't attempted to lie on it and can't knock it over because it is zip-tied. This setup would require loose substrate though I think. This is also a 2' tall cage. My failsafe is the wattage of the CHE though as at 100% in this larger cage it won't raise the temps high enough to become too crazy. I think with smaller PVC cages that lack the height this may be a larger issue and a second t-stat failsafe would become more important.

[/url]

[/url]

Not sure if it helps but couldn't hurt. I had the thin lexan piece laying around but the pipe pieces cost about $2.50 total.

[Reptilebasics]

I would check and see what the max temp your cage will get with the rhp on full power. If you do not get to critical temps for the animal you are keeping on the cooler end of the cage than a backup may not be required. You can check this by removing the animal and plugging the panel directly into the wall for about 30-60 minutes.
If your temps creep up past critical for your animal on the cool end then you might want to consider a backup. RHP's don;t go into "meltdown" like heat tape can when run unregulated BUT you still need to know your setup and how it reacts. Just because your panel does not die does not mean your animal won't.......

[kitedemon]

There is still no animal in the enclosure. I already know unregulated it will produce a max temp of 120º inside the enclosure. That is hot enough to be seriously concerning to me. whispersinmyhead that is a really great idea. I have never liked having a probe located where a snake could get between the probe and the heat source and stay there. Yours is an elegant solution. This is my solution... set up much the way it would be for arboreal. I have not found it to deliver stable temps they vary a lot not cooler than I'd want but sometimes much warmer.

Hosted on Fotki

It is an interesting experiment but I am not totally happy with it to date. Perhaps I will try the floor mounted elbow next.

Rich what is the accuracy of the VE probe? why is it not stated anywhere?

[Reptilebasics]

Probe is accurate to 0.9 F