Tank setup

[Kaorte]

Cheapest thermostat is the reptitemp 500r, around $25. You should only need one though. Then get a dimmer for the cool side. Plug the UTH into the dimmer and the dimmer into the thermostat.

Cardboard over the screen will not help hold humidity, it will suck up the humidity and you will end up with damp cardboard. Go with either aluminum tape, foil or acrylic/plexi glass.

[dr del]

Hi,

Well depending on the sizes you might want to switch the jobs for the heatmats - you want the warm end to take up about a third of the tank and the cool end the rest.

You can just lay the sheets of newspaper in - I fold mine to the right size and have a couple of layers.

It depends on what you class as a low budget thermostat wise.

One possible idea might be to only buy one but make it a proportional one and have the cool end heatmat connected to a dimmer and then to the thermostat along with the warm end matt.

This would let you dial in the thermostat to the correct warm end temps and then simply turn down the dimmer until the cool end temps were what you need.

Plus you have a proportional thermostat so the temps will be a little steadier than typically provided by on/ off types.

For safety you can also put a dimmer in line with the warm end matt and dial it down - the idea of this is to limit the amount of overheating if the thermostat fails in the on position.

It means a little more tweaking in the initial setup stage but you have enough time to do it if you choose.

It is just a safety precaution so you certainly do not need to do it though.


dr del

[punisher_reborn]

Cheapest thermostat is the reptitemp 500r, around $25. You should only need one though. Then get a dimmer for the cool side. Plug the UTH into the dimmer and the dimmer into the thermostat.

Cardboard over the screen will not help hold humidity, it will suck up the humidity and you will end up with damp cardboard. Go with either aluminum tape, foil or acrylic/plexi glass.

So plug the hot side into the thremostat and use the probe for that side, and set it to about 95? Do I adjust the dimmer til it is about what 85-90? What is a good dimmer? Is the Repti Temp Rheostat good for this?

[punisher_reborn]

HELP!!!!!!!!! I have my reptitemp 500r with the larger UTH pluged in and it is turned all the way up, but it is not getting very hot. The smaller UTH that is plugged straight into the power strip is hotter. My digital temp gauge is reading around 75F & 57% humidity. Any reason why the UTH is not getting warmer, its been plugged up all day with no change. Please somebody help! Wife & I are getting our first BP this up coming weekend & I'm trying to get the tank just right.

[Kaorte]

Where is the thermostat probe? What kind of thermometer are you using and where is it located?

[punisher_reborn]

probe is ontop of larger UTh inside the tank. Thermometer is in center of tank inside on back wall.

[Kaorte]

You should have a digital thermometer with a probe and the probe should be directly on the glass above where the UTH is. If it isn't in this spot you will not get an accurate reading.

[punisher_reborn]

You should have a digital thermometer with a probe and the probe should be directly on the glass above where the UTH is. If it isn't in this spot you will not get an accurate reading.

this I totally understand, and plan on getting one, but the glass above the larger UTH is not heating up at all. It is plugged into the Reptitemp 500R which is turned all the way up to HOT, but nothing seems to be getting hotter. Everything is brand new.

[jfrancb]

Is the light on your reptitemp green, if not there's no power going to your uth.

If your not sure plug in a lamp turn it on and play with the dial on thermostat, you will see how it works.

Then set it using a thermometer next to you thermostat probe to get your temperature.

[Crawdad]

It sounds like either:

a) Your UTH is bad. Plug it directly into the wall to verify -- if it still stays cool, then it's bad.

b) Your thermostat is not kicking on at a high enough temperature -- move the thermostat probe away from the hottest point of the heat mat and adjust as necessary. I had to move mine near the edge.

You really need a good thermometer -- your hand is not good enough to dial in the temp.