Thermostat help

[Skittles1101]

I have the Reptile Basics MCB-S wide rack attached to a Herpstat. The probe is taped directly down to the flexwatt (belly heat). Now I have had to crank up the thermostat to 104.5 so far, probably going to have to be more because the temps inside the tubs according to my temp gun are in the low to mid 80's. Does this sound normal? I'm just trying to find out if maybe there is a connection problem, or maybe the probe isn't taped to the right spot? I use newspaper as substrate in the tubs, but even the very bottom of the tubs are reading mid 80's. I don't want to fry them, but I also don't want them to get a RI due to too low temps. Anyone have this rack and have to crank up the temps similarly? Anyone with this rack and I'd assume any rack from Reptile Basics knows that the flexwatt does not come into direct contact with the tubs. Any help would be appreciated.

[kitedemon]

My rack is set up the same way and I have it set to 95ºF and the tubs inside are at 90º How long did you allow it to stabilize before it takes a day or so at least that is what i found. What is the ambient room temp? That too will make a huge difference.

[Skittles1101]

I keep my heat around 68 inside my apartment, but with the warm weather it's been around 75 or so. I did let it run for a day at about 96 and I cranked it up after that gradually, taking temps after a few hours of changing it. It's been like 3 days now and I just can't seem to get the temps to 90. I use a temp gun, I take temps over the newspaper because I don't think it's meant for clear or shiny substances, but even the bottom of the tub when I do take it is only at 85ish.

[PitOnTheProwl]

you might try taking an acurite indoor/outdoor thermometer and tape the outdoor probe over the hot spot on the inside of an empty tub. that would give you a good temp reading for the shelf, then you can switch it to another shelf and so on.

[Skittles1101]

Yeah, I religiously used my temp gun when they were in my DIY rack tubs and it worked out perfectly, I didn't realize how difficult it would be in this new rack. I'll try a probed digital thermometer and go from there.

[Simple Man]

It sounds like that's because of the heat tape trying to do too much work (too much temp dif between the room and rack) I bet the fact that it doesn't touch the tub makes it harder to retain heat as well. Airflow = lower temp. I had to crank mine until I realized that just wasn't safe. I started keeping my room at 79-81 and the temps stabilized perfectly. I now have my Herpstat set at 93.8 degrees and it does a perfect job keeping temps stable at 90-91 on my hotside. Have you tried setting your proportional setting up to Hi1 or Hi2? You got to remember that Flexwatt is like 8 watts a foot for 4". That just isn't going to heat a room full of air when the temps fall under a certain amount.

Regards,

B

[Skittles1101]

I didn't know Herpstat had a H1 or H2 setting? I'll read over the directions later and figure this thing out. I don't have a room for my snakes so it will be impossible to raise my room temps without affecting the whole house.

[JohnNJ]

It looks like the back of the rack is open like the front. I had the same problem with a DIY rack that was open because I keep my house cool is winter.

Place a wired probe in one of the tubs and keep the main unit on top of the rack so you can easily read the inside temp. Cover the front and back with bath towels.

The towels keep the heat inside and the thermostat doesn't have to work so hard. I have nine snakes in a rack that's covered and they're all fine and the temps are maintained well.

[cdavidson9]

It looks like the back of the rack is open like the front. I had the same problem with a DIY rack that was open because I keep my house cool is winter.

Place a wired probe in one of the tubs and keep the main unit on top of the rack so you can easily read the inside temp. Cover the front and back with bath towels.

The towels keep the heat inside and the thermostat doesn't have to work so hard. I have nine snakes in a rack that's covered and they're all fine and the temps are maintained well.

Just curious, after hanging the towels (which I think is a great idea)... do you ever lack ambient lighting for the animals? Or do they get enough day light through the sides of the tubs?

[Simple Man]

Unplug your Herpstat and hold the left button. Plug it back in and release it. It should flash and then you will start with Fea or Cel, then Heat/Cool, and then Prop/On-Off, then the prop curve which shows as Std. You can change the value up and down to (Lo1, Lo2, <<Std>>, Hi1, Hi2) This changes the proportional curve of heating. The less efficient your enclosure is, the higher this setting should be. If you find the thermostat overshooting the number a lot you probably want to drop the next lowest setting. If it spends most of the time under your setting you need to increase it. After playing with this I was able to reduce my temp from 97 like it shows in my gallery to 93. I still get the same 89-91 temp but it is much more stable and at a lower temp! Don't mess with any of the temp settings after the proportional curve. These are designed for night drop and matching the thermostat to other equipments sensors. PM me if you need more help.

Regards,

B