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Thread: Heating mess up

  1. #1
    Registered User sufficio's Avatar
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    Heating mess up

    So yesterday we'd had our windows open all day and night, and it was relatively cold in the room where we keep our BP. The thermostat was reading at only 84 for his under tank heater, even though I have it set for 90. I turned up his heat lamp and took the temps inside, which were about 85-90 on the warm side, and 73 throughout(so a tad cold). I was still confused as to why the UTH was reading low, but I ignored it and assumed it was because of the windows.

    However I realized this morning that I'd made a bad error. At some point, the temp gauge of the thermostat had been bumped and was sitting halfway off the UTH. I put it back into place and the temp of the UTH was at a startling 120 However, I once again took the temps inside the tub and the hotside was still only at about 85-90. He's been sitting on the warm side this whole time, so my hope is that the UTH heat didn't fully reach the tub, or that the open window cooled the tub enough that it didn't climb in temps. He seems to be acting fine; not stressed. I have the temps all back to normal now but I'm really worried I caused damage to him. He doesn't have any burns or anything, but I just feel awful. I'm so glad I caught my mistake sooner rather than later.

  2. #2
    BPnet Senior Member JodanOrNoDan's Avatar
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    If the belly is not red and he is not acting like a spider with a super bad wobble he is probably ok. Secure the thermostat probe a little better. It is not inside the the tank right?

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    Registered User Bmocken's Avatar
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    Re: Heating mess up

    Quote Originally Posted by sufficio View Post
    So yesterday we'd had our windows open all day and night, and it was relatively cold in the room where we keep our BP. The thermostat was reading at only 84 for his under tank heater, even though I have it set for 90. I turned up his heat lamp and took the temps inside, which were about 85-90 on the warm side, and 73 throughout(so a tad cold). I was still confused as to why the UTH was reading low, but I ignored it and assumed it was because of the windows.

    However I realized this morning that I'd made a bad error. At some point, the temp gauge of the thermostat had been bumped and was sitting halfway off the UTH. I put it back into place and the temp of the UTH was at a startling 120 However, I once again took the temps inside the tub and the hotside was still only at about 85-90. He's been sitting on the warm side this whole time, so my hope is that the UTH heat didn't fully reach the tub, or that the open window cooled the tub enough that it didn't climb in temps. He seems to be acting fine; not stressed. I have the temps all back to normal now but I'm really worried I caused damage to him. He doesn't have any burns or anything, but I just feel awful. I'm so glad I caught my mistake sooner rather than later.
    Your thermostat probe shouldn't be in the enclosure but under it taped to the UTH directly using aluminum tape. You then should use a secondary digital thermometer with a probe on the inside directly above the hotspot under the substrate OR use an infrared temperature gun to measure the hotspot and adjust accordingly. This will prevent your current situation from happening again.

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    Registered User sufficio's Avatar
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    No, sorry for the bad description, the probe is between the UTH and the bottom of the tub. I'm going to tape it now so this doesn't happen again, previously I assumed it wouldn't budge because of the weight of the tub. He's acting totally fine, so like I said I think the air helped cool down the tank and keep it from actually reaching the brain-melting temps.

    And I do use a digital gun, I check twice a day typically and like I said it was reading just fine when I checked. I'm considering myself extremely lucky that nothing bad happened with this mishap.

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    Registered User Bmocken's Avatar
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    Re: Heating mess up

    Quote Originally Posted by sufficio View Post
    No, sorry for the bad description, the probe is between the UTH and the bottom of the tub. I'm going to tape it now so this doesn't happen again, previously I assumed it wouldn't budge because of the weight of the tub. He's acting totally fine, so like I said I think the air helped cool down the tank and keep it from actually reaching the brain-melting temps.

    And I do use a digital gun, I check twice a day typically and like I said it was reading just fine when I checked. I'm considering myself extremely lucky that nothing bad happened with this mishap.
    How much room do you have under the tub? The UTH I have said to leave about 1/2 inch of specs between the uth and whatever is under it. That also gives plenty of space to tape the probe to the bottom.

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    Registered User sufficio's Avatar
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    Re: Heating mess up

    I don't have any room; the tub is sitting directly on top of the UTH. It's actually a heater for sapling plants so it doesn't have any direct instructions for positioning when it comes to reptile tubs(a local fellow reptile keeper working at petsmart advised against their UTHs and recommended this one). How exactly would you set that up? Suspend the tub with some way? The temps are fine right now, but if it's better for there to be space between the tub and UTH I can arrange it!
    Last edited by sufficio; 05-24-2017 at 05:17 PM.

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    Registered User Bmocken's Avatar
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    Re: Heating mess up

    Quote Originally Posted by sufficio View Post
    I don't have any room; the tub is sitting directly on top of the UTH. It's actually a heater for sapling plants so it doesn't have any direct instructions for positioning when it comes to reptile tubs(a local fellow reptile keeper working at petsmart advised against their UTHs and recommended this one). How exactly would you set that up? Suspend the tub with some way? The temps are fine right now, but if it's better for there to be space between the tub and UTH I can arrange it!
    I added rubber cushions that you can find from lowes or Home Depot. I think it has to do with having room for the probe as well as dissipating the heat to what is below. Not sure how much I believe the dissapation part but it does give you room for the probe.

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  12. #8
    Registered User sufficio's Avatar
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    Ahh neat. The tub has small indents where the probe fits nicely(the probe is also very small) so I don't think I'll need to make more room, but if I ever have any issues with too much heat I'll definitely keep in mind about the foam blocks. Good to have a plan, especially since this is gonna be the first summer we have him! Definitely taping it in place now. Thanks for your help guys, I was super worried but I think my dude's gonna be okay! I appreciate the help!

  13. #9
    Sometimes It Hurts... PitOnTheProwl's Avatar
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    Re: Heating mess up

    Quote Originally Posted by Bmocken View Post
    How much room do you have under the tub? The UTH I have said to leave about 1/2 inch of specs between the uth and whatever is under it. That also gives plenty of space to tape the probe to the bottom.
    A heat mat is basically heat tape covered in the mat material...... there is no 1/2 gap in a rack and it wouldn't matter if your mat is properly regulated.

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