Have a problem and need help!!!!!

[Serpents_Den]

Hi guys.....I am hoping someone on here can help me.

Ok I bought a CB 70 rack from Reptile basics and I bought a temp gun from them as well. First of all....I have changed the batteries on the gun...so that is not the problem.

I also have a herpstat (the little one with 3 grounded plugs and 1 probe).

I set up the rack and taped the probe down on the heat tape under the middle bin. I set the thermostat at 93 ....I haven't put the snakes in yet as I am trying to get it perfect. The problem is when I run the gun over it there are places in the hot side of the bin that reads 96 and 98 degrees. Just in a couple of the bin squares though....but it is like this in each bin. Again it is only in a couple of small areas...but still. I have been adjusting the temp for about a week now and just lowered it to 92.5

Also I have set up the bins with paper towels and also put in a bowl of water to see what the humidity is going to be. Right now it is only running about 36%.

I am just at a loss here as I am trying to make sure it is running perfect prior to putting the snakes in.

Sorry for the long post....just need some help.

I've driven myself crazy with the same situation. My racks were 10 levels high and what I eventually done was run each level on it's own thermostat. Luckily I ran racks side by side so I wasn't using a thermostat for just one bin.

[BPelizabeth]

Ok so this is what I have done thus far. I have moved the probe to the middle of the top bin....on the heat tape. I have re-set the temp AGAIN. So stay tuned....I am giving it some time to adjust itself. I will keep you updated.

[Serpents_Den]

Ok so this is what I have done thus far. I have moved the probe to the middle of the top bin....on the heat tape. I have re-set the temp AGAIN. So stay tuned....I am giving it some time to adjust itself. I will keep you updated.

I think your lower bins are not going to be warm enough at least that's what happened to me and my reasoning for using a thermostat for each level.

[spyderrobotics]

I never get the same reading twice with temp guns. If you try to compare them to a thermometer or the Herpstat you will probably always be questioning one or the other. Most digital thermometers and temp guns usually have a +- 2 degree accuracy. So if the temp is 90 the gun can say 92 or 88 and its still considered in tolerance. The herpstat sensor is +- .9 so its much more accurate. The best way to approach that situation is to take the Herpstat probe and get a digital thermometer with a probe on a wire and tape the tips together. Then let them dangle off a table. Give them 15 minutes and check the readings. Again they can be off by a degree or so. Write down the readings and then you'll know the difference between those. Then put them both on the heat source. Let it regulate for a half hour or so. Check the temps. They should be pretty close to the same difference as they were before. As others stated flexwatt won't heat evenly across a strip. Its kind of like the bucket brigade putting out a fire. The further down the line the less water in the bucket. Same thing with resistance and manufacturing differences. The IR gun will measure surface temp. A temp probe is affect by the surface its touching as well as the ambient air on the otherside of the probe. IR is also affected by colors and surface texture. This is why one of the tricks when building autonomous robots is to paint them black as it absorbed more of the IR and was harder for the other robot to find it with IR sensors. Also things like flourescent lights and even regular lighting can cause problems because that light is flickering on/off all the time but the eye doesn't catch it yet it can cause interference with IR. Remember as a kid pointing the tv remote at a mirror in the other room and bouncing it off to control the tv (ok maybe only I did that). So same thing goes for reflectivity of the surface.

Some IR guns are very accurate and those you usually pay over $100 for. Most people have the $30 ones and they are handy for quick checks but they can sometime cause more panic than necessary.

Hope that helps!
Dion Brewington
Owner, Spyder Robotics

[martinarquero]

let us know how things are going neighbor!, Im only about 50 miles away from you in Douglas, any way, first time I used the felxwatt and the herpestat I was going bananas, till I just set the temp at 86, (my goal was 84 in the tub, for small balls), and set the probe in the middle of the rack in my case the bottom one was the hottest so I took a dimmer to the lower flex watt to the herp, to lower it a bit, has worked great for the past year and half