Heating issues in my rack

[snakesRkewl]

I had a repti-temp 500R do this to me also.
I ended up taping the probe further away from the flexwatt, it seemed to bring the whole heat range up and I was able to hold 90 degrees spot on.

[spyderrobotics]

The problem is the heat tape is just not enough wattage to make it up to temp. The power matching on the Herpstat only affects the power when the temps get within a degree of your set temperature. The easy way to see the problem is to unplug the heat tape from the thermostat and plug it right into the wall and monitor it. Just leave the Herpstat's probe in place so you can monitor the temperature on it and you'll see the heat tape not make it to temp. 70 degrees can be tough for heat tape to overcome. For instance I have 1 foot cubes built out of 3/4" wood for test setups with 1 foot of 11" heat tape. With my room temp around 70 these cubes (closed off) cannot make it to 88+ degrees. For your situation you will probably need to up the room temp, add additional heat tape, or swap to heat tape that has more wattage per foot.

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

[Hypnotic Exotic]

I use that same thermostat with very low wattage heat tape (8 watts) in melamine racks and have no problem but my snake room typically stays around 78 degrees. I maintain a warm side of about 88-90 with no problem. I agree, 70 degrees seems awfully cool for a reptile room. Get it up 6-8 degrees and I'll bet your problem is solved.

[Danounet]

I use the 11" @ 20 watts per foot from reptile basics and it keeps the temperatues fine at nite when we lower the A/C to 73 degrees.

Im guessing you need heat tape with higher watt rate, But untill you prove that is the case, dont go crazy and buy alot of it

[Rockstar Reptiles]

The problem is the heat tape is just not enough wattage to make it up to temp. The power matching on the Herpstat only affects the power when the temps get within a degree of your set temperature. The easy way to see the problem is to unplug the heat tape from the thermostat and plug it right into the wall and monitor it. Just leave the Herpstat's probe in place so you can monitor the temperature on it and you'll see the heat tape not make it to temp. 70 degrees can be tough for heat tape to overcome. For instance I have 1 foot cubes built out of 3/4" wood for test setups with 1 foot of 11" heat tape. With my room temp around 70 these cubes (closed off) cannot make it to 88+ degrees. For your situation you will probably need to up the room temp, add additional heat tape, or swap to heat tape that has more wattage per foot.

Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

Thank you for the response Dion. I did that today and it got up to 117 degrees. However, I re-adjusted the probe a few more times and I seem to have figured it out, hit a "sweet spot" so to speak. Thanks again for your help there Dion, you have been a great help to me through this. Highly impressed!

[spyderrobotics]

No problem! Probe placement is always the most important part to setting up a thermostat. I'm curious as to where you ended up with your probe. I can't figure out how having the probe between the heat tape and tub wouldn't get up to 86 if the setup is capable of 117. Maybe I can learn something.

I'm glad you got it working though and feel free to shoot me an email if you have any other questions.

Thank you for the response Dion. I did that today and it got up to 117 degrees. However, I re-adjusted the probe a few more times and I seem to have figured it out, hit a "sweet spot" so to speak. Thanks again for your help there Dion, you have been a great help to me through this. Highly impressed!

[Rockstar Reptiles]

No problem! Probe placement is always the most important part to setting up a thermostat. I'm curious as to where you ended up with your probe. I can't figure out how having the probe between the heat tape and tub wouldn't get up to 86 if the setup is capable of 117. Maybe I can learn something.

I'm glad you got it working though and feel free to shoot me an email if you have any other questions.

I had it on the third shelf up, more toward the back end of the tape. I moved it half way through the 2nd shelf and towards the middle of the tape and it is going much better now.