flexwatt question

[Trochu]

....The ideal set up is to have a proportional thermostat like the herpstat connected to the heat tape with the probe inside the cage over the hot spot. Then plug the herpstat into a non-proportional thermostat like a ranco. The Ranco's probe is attached to the heat tape and acts as a backup. you set the herpstt to your desired temperature, and the rancho to the hottest you want the heat tape to get to. If the max temperature is breached the rancho will cut power to he herpstat until the heat tape has cooled down.......

I've read that before somewhere.....

[warlord]

ok so im gonna have another thermometer and than have the heat tape plugged into a thermostat the other thermometer is gonna be inside my hot end hide. im just gonna use that to measure the 90 degree hot spot and adjust the thermostat accordingly. is this ok

[The Serpent Merchant]

yes

I suggest this thermometer from Walmart:

[warlord]

how will the thermostat know when to cut off heat from the flexwatt if the t-stat probe isnt in there tho...sorry if you already said it im getting confused lol

[The Serpent Merchant]

Ok I need to know what you are talking about (what I was talking about with the 2 thermostat set up or a single thermostat set up)

[warlord]

single thermostat set up atleast for now i might be able to go up to the 2 therms later on

[The Serpent Merchant]

Ok. So the thermostat probe is attached to the flexwatt. So the thermostat knows how hot the flexwatt is. You need a thermometer inside the cage to see how hot the cage floor over the flexwatt is. So you set the thermostat to a temperature that gets the floor temperature of cage to the desired temperature. (for example my thermostat is set to 105 degrees. But the floor of my cage is 91 degrees because of the 1/2" of PVC absorbing some of the heat from the flexwatt before it effects the cage floor temperature)

[Trochu]

how will the thermostat know when to cut off heat from the flexwatt if the t-stat probe isnt in there tho...sorry if you already said it im getting confused lol

I'm also debating on were to place the probe. The theory being, if you glue the probe to the bottom of the inside of a tank, and it stays there, great, likely the best possible solution. The problem occurs when it doesn't stay there however. If your snake dislodges the probe, and it's now located at a point near the top of the hide, several inches from the substrate, the thermostat is going to continue to provide power to the UTH until the air in the hide has reached the set temperature. As the UTH will likely stay on for an extended period of time, trying to heat the ambient temperature in the hide/enclosure, your snake could get burnt if it comes in contact with the tank surface.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I'm also debating on were to place the probe. The theory being, if you glue the probe to the bottom of the inside of a tank, and it stays there, great, likely the best possible solution. The problem occurs when it doesn't stay there however. If your snake dislodges the probe, and it's now located at a point near the top of the hide, several inches from the substrate, the thermostat is going to continue to provide power to the UTH until the air in the hide has reached the set temperature. As the UTH will likely stay on for an extended period of time, trying to heat the ambient temperature in the hide/enclosure, your snake could get burnt if it comes in contact with the tank surface.

In order of safety level:

1. dual thermostat setup

2. Single thermostat set up with probe on flexwatt

3. Single thermostat set up with probe inside the cage


Once you get your thermostat dialed in (option 2) the cage will stay pretty constant. Oviously option is the best but option 2 is the best compromise. Option 3 is convent but is risky

[warlord]

with option 2 are you saying put the t-stat probe on the flexwatt like on the outside of cage in between the flexwatt and cage? and the regular temp thermometer in hot hide under the substrate?