Heat Issues - Herpstat 2 with RHP and UTH

[CrashSammich]

So I just moved my BP to an Animal Plastics T8. Using a Herpstat 2 thermostat with a brand new Pro Products RHP and RBI heat tape UTH.

I have the RHP set to 80° and the UTH to 90°, but the RHP is reading 126° at 0% power (right now) and the UTH is at 78 at 100% power (but has yet to make it to 90°, that I've seen since installing it).

The RHP probe is mounted above one of her hides, about 3" from the floor of the enclosure, and the UTH probe is mounted in the slot provided by Animal Plastics under the bottom panel.

The Herpstat 2 is set to daytime mode only with pulse heat. Not sure what the hell could be causing this but I'm definitely concerned. The Herpstat 2 WAS working fine in her previous 10gal aquarium setup with a UTH and CHE.

[SDA]

Dimming is the setting for proportional heat you want for the RHP. You can set it for the UTH as well but pulse works better on heat tape.

You don't measure heat from the RHP surface but from the ambient temps between the warm and cold hide as well as the surface under the RHP. The UTH temp is read from the inside surface of the AP cage and directly in the middle of the UTH placement.

It generally takes 2-3 degrees above the desired inside temp to get the inside temp of the UTH where you want it. So if you want the floor to read 90, you set the UTH thermostat temp to 92-93.

Also on pulse proportional you will never see 0% for power so either you have it set to dimming or something is read wrong. Under pulse and setup properly it should hover somewhere between 14-20%

Lastly make sure you did not use aluminum tape on the probe tip for the herpstat. It actually explicitly says not to do that as it will generate false readings. You should actually never tape a probe tip.

See my RBI setup for how the UTH should have been installed and how the probe should have been taped

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ngle-Door-Cage

[tttaylorrr]

how long have you allowed the new set up to run? the temps don't dial in right away; it can take at least an hour with some consistant fussing with the thermostat.

where are you measuring the temp to get 126° F?

[CrashSammich]

Dimming is the setting for proportional heat you want for the RHP. You can set it for the UTH as well but pulse works better on heat tape.

You don't measure heat from the RHP surface but from the ambient temps between the warm and cold hide as well as the surface under the RHP. The UTH temp is read from the inside surface of the AP cage and directly in the middle of the UTH placement.

It generally takes 2-3 degrees above the desired inside temp to get the inside temp of the UTH where you want it. So if you want the floor to read 90, you set the UTH thermostat temp to 92-93.

Also on pulse proportional you will never see 0% for power so either you have it set to dimming or something is read wrong. Under pulse and setup properly it should hover somewhere between 14-20%

Lastly make sure you did not use aluminum tape on the probe tip for the herpstat. It actually explicitly says not to do that as it will generate false readings. You should actually never tape a probe tip.

See my RBI setup for how the UTH should have been installed and how the probe should have been taped

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ngle-Door-Cage

Thanks for the pointers...first time RHP user here so I must've missed the bit about using dimming heat. I just fixed that for the RHP side, and will keep an eye on it.

I DID use aluminum tape on the UTH probe! Did not know that caused the probe tip to read incorrectly. Reading the instructions, RBI says "if using aluminum tape, do not overlap any of the electrical areas in the element - black conductive bars or copper buss bars". I put the tape around all 4 sides of the heat element...does that mean I should've only attached the aluminum tape to the heat tape itself and not to the solid conductors running through it? (I've unplugged the UTH til I figure this part out and have re-taped the probe)

how long have you allowed the new set up to run? the temps don't dial in right away; it can take at least an hour with some consistant fussing with the thermostat.

where are you measuring the temp to get 126° F?

About 3" from the floor...7 or 8" from the RHP.