Just a heads up on heating pads and surge protectors

[Emily Hubbard]

I have two heating pads on my enclosure, one for belly heat and one up near the roof for ambient heat, with thermostats of course, and I have them plugged into one of those surge protectors with about eight plugs. I don't have a lot of outlets, so I use the surge protector for my viv heat, and to charge my lap top. Last night as I was unplugging my laptop, I accidentally hit the on/off switch on the surge protector. No big deal, I just flipped it back on and went to bed. Well, this action apparently reset the thermostats, so they were just reading temps, not controlling them. Thankfully, the heat pads I use max out at about 100 degrees. WAAY too high, but not fatal for 9ish hours.

When I saw my snake in her cool hide this morning, I checked temps right away because she is never in her cool hide in the morning. I got a reading of 102 degrees on the warm side and of course freaked out, unplugged everything and started over once it cooled down. Crisis averted.

I share this just as a heads up if you use a surge protector, or even if you have a power outage or blown fuze, anything to disrupt your current. This may be specific to my equipment and circumstance, but stuff happens. ALWAYS check your thermostat if you have had any break in the current.

Also, the main lesson I learned from this is the importance of checking temps daily. It seems like common sense, but I am sure we have all gotten busy skipped a day checking temps, I know I have before. What if I had today? I was lucky that 102 was as high as the temp got, and I was lucky that my snake knew better and slithered herself over to the cool spot, which rose to 87 with the rising of the other side. Heating pads, thermostats... they're just machines, and machines don't always work perfectly.

Anyway, just a little warning about being vigilant. I am very thankful that my mistake did not end in tragedy, just a jump in my heart rate. I could very well have been posting on Rainbow Bridge if I had not checked temps this morning, or my heating pads had a stronger output. Learn from my mistake, I know I have. I think it is important that we all share our mistakes to save each other from repeating them. Thanks for reading!

[WingedWolfPsion]

What brand are your thermostats?

[The Serpent Merchant]

What brand are your thermostats?

x2 my herpstats don't do that.... that's scary. where I live in the summer we get power outages all the time from storms, I'd be in trouble.

[kitedemon]

3X!!

Wow I have never had a thermostat reset like that either.

[Emily Hubbard]

Hydrofarm, the $30 ones from Amazon. It may have been a freak thing, it may have been because it is plugged into a surge protector, I really have no idea. I just know it happened and it scared the crap out of me, so I wanted everyone to be aware, it happens. Just check your equipment, whatever it is. No matter how much or how little you paid for it, it won't always work perfectly.

[kitedemon]

I have tested a number of hydrofarms for something else and I have set a few up as failsafes. Out of curiosity I unplugged one and left it unplugged for 10 min and it returned to the set point I had set and did not loose its settings. It might be time for a new one...

[ShockBunny]

That's really weird, my Hydrofarms saved their settings after being unplugged and packed up for a move. I'll keep an eye on my surge protectors though.

[Emily Hubbard]

I have tested a number of hydrofarms for something else and I have set a few up as failsafes. Out of curiosity I unplugged one and left it unplugged for 10 min and it returned to the set point I had set and did not loose its settings. It might be time for a new one...

Interesting. I have only had it for a few months. It is working fine currently since my incident, but I will keep a close eye on it and probably get a new one when the next pay check rolls around.

[WingedWolfPsion]

It's always a bad sign when a thermostat fails in the ON position, instead of the off position. I would be leery of this brand. I believe Big Apple Herp has one for maybe $10 more that won't do that.

[Strick]

Expensive or inexpensive anything electronic can fail. Always use a back up of some sort.