Need a little help please :)

[SnakieMom]

First off, a short description of my setup.
I have this rack:


and of course, a Ranco to control the temps:


I recently had horrible temp spikes in my rack, spoke to Rich at Reptile Basics (great guy, btw!) who was
very generous and sent me a replacement kit for the heat tape.
My husband and I installed the new tape, and got everything
up and running. Or so I thought. For some reason, I can't get my temps high enough in the rack!
The Ranco's probe is taped directly on the flexwatt, between the flexwatt and the tub.
I swear, I followed the directions to set up the Ranco to the temps I thought would work, but I can't get
my temps up to where I need them! (all temps measured with Accurite)
As they are right now, 79-82 on the cold side, 85-89 on the 'hot' side. The Ranco is currently set to Fahrenheit,
temp set at 100,
differential set at 2 (I'm assuming 2 degrees from the 'temp'??)
and of course, it's set to H1 (heating.)

Can someone please help me figure out what I'm not doing right?
I am afraid if I turn the temp up anymore that I'll burn through the tubs, and I only have two tubs left!
(The old t-stat or flexwatt had issues, not sure which, but two tubs got burnt up. Hence, the new tape and new t-stat)
Please help!

[SnakieMom]

18 people have looked, and not one has any suggestions?
And why is it that when I post something it quickly sinks to
the bottom? Do I smell bad?

[Argentra]

First of all, set the differential to 1, not 2. That's how many degrees off the 'set' temp it will go before turning on or off.

Second, there will often be a difference between the set temp of the stat and the actual temps in the tubs. My Herpstat is currently set at 102 to get me 92-94 on the hot sides (tub temps also vary with height in the rack). Rely more on the thermometer and temp gun readings in the tubs than on the stat setting.

If you hooked everything up right, the flexwatt should be ok... try tweaking the settings on the Ranco and see what happens.

[Alice]

First of all, set the differential to 1, not 2. That's how many degrees off the 'set' temp it will go before turning on or off.

Second, there will often be a difference between the set temp of the stat and the actual temps in the tubs. My Herpstat is currently set at 102 to get me 92-94 on the hot sides (tub temps also vary with height in the rack). Rely more on the thermometer and temp gun readings in the tubs than on the stat setting.

If you hooked everything up right, the flexwatt should be ok... try tweaking the settings on the Ranco and see what happens.

I agree. We have to set our Ranco at 100 - 102 to have the hot spot on top of the aspen (where our snakes lay) around 92 or so. You need to take into consdieration that temps also vary between tubs within a rack . . . lowest tubs are usually the coolest and top tubs are the warmest.

Good luck!

[SnakieMom]

Thanks for the replies. I reset it to 103 and 102, But I'm still nervous... should I be worried at all about the tubs burning?

My snakes are on paper, and I really don't wanna chance a fire.

[Argentra]

Don't worry... the melting point of most plastics is over 200 degrees. You won't burn the tubs, even if the heat elements are on full blast.

[hondo1967]

I would not put the probe on the flexwatt, it should be about an inch or so away from the tape to get an accurate temp the surrounding area not just the tape

[SnakieMom]

Don't worry... the melting point of most plastics is over 200 degrees. You won't burn the tubs, even if the heat elements are on full blast.

Lol, tell that to the other two tubs that WERE in the rack
before I had to replace the flexwatt. Both of them had holes
burned in them aproximately 4 inches in diameter.

I do feel a bit more at ease after reading that i'm not
the only one whos' Ranco is set so high.

[blackcrystal22]

Lol, tell that to the other two tubs that WERE in the rack
before I had to replace the flexwatt. Both of them had holes
burned in them aproximately 4 inches in diameter.

I do feel a bit more at ease after reading that i'm not
the only one whos' Ranco is set so high.

HOWOW.
That's bad. D:

As for hondo's comment. I highly disagree. You will not be using the t-stat the way it was designed and the flexwatt or heat tape that your using may not last as long, also if you have it in the tank where your suggesting and they urate or spill water on it, boom your temperatures spike up and you have a burned snake.
Bad idea.
That is what the thermometer is for.. to measure temps inside the enclosure.