I need advice on thermostat probe placement

[suzuki4life]

sigh...

120v-> hydrofarm-> Ve200->rack

Correct?

That makes the hydrofarm the main unit. Its acting just like a main breaker in your electrical panel. We're meaning the same thing just tracing the route in opposite directions.

the hydrofarm will cost $40 to replace
the ve200 will cost $115 to replace....

That's 155...which is well over $100 as stated.


maintaining .1 degree even in an incubator is overboard....in a cage its moot. a cheap thermostat will hold +/- 2 degrees. That's fine for a cage.


glad you recycled

[suzuki4life]

and if you guys are so worried about the probe moving or getting fecal matter on the probe....attach it to the ceiling of the cold end.

I can't believe people spend money on precision measuring equipment and controls only to guess and hope they work properly.

[RetiredJedi]

sigh...

120v-> hydrofarm-> Ve200->rack

Correct?

sigh...Wrong! Flexwatt(rack) ->VE200->Hydrofarm->wall outlet. Therefore VE200 is main

That's 155...which is well over $100 as stated.
You are correct but the Hydrofarm was bought year ago and the VE200 was recent purchase. I just call it upgrading. I trust the VE more than the Hydrofarm


maintaining .1 degree even in an incubator is overboard....in a cage its moot. a cheap thermostat will hold +/- 2 degrees. That's fine for a cage.
+/- 2 degrees??? My VE200 will read 98 all the time and the Hydrofarm will read up to 102

glad you recycled
Just doing my part. Peace out

[suzuki4life]

SUPER SIGH AGAIN

120v-> hydrofarm-> Ve200->rack

Flexwatt(rack) ->VE200->Hydrofarm->wall outlet. Therefore VE200 is main

You follow the path of power supply, not draw.

wall outlet->Hydrofarm->VE200->Flexwatt(rack)

Therefore your Hydrofarm is your main, just like in a circuit panel your MAIN breaker is the closest to the incoming power source.

[RetiredJedi]

SUPER SIGH AGAIN

120v-> hydrofarm-> Ve200->rack

Flexwatt(rack) ->VE200->Hydrofarm->wall outlet. Therefore VE200 is main

You follow the path of power supply, not draw.

wall outlet->Hydrofarm->VE200->Flexwatt(rack)

Therefore your Hydrofarm is your main, just like in a circuit panel your MAIN breaker is the closest to the incoming power source.

Well let me clarify and this is last post for me because we are now off the subject. I consider the VE200 the main as in it is controlling the temp on the flexwatt. The Hydrofarm is the back up.

Have a great night.

[DeathMetalMax]

OP. Would any body here say that, using two dimmers for two strips of flex watt, would be a good idea when using a dual probe/ dual output herpstat 2?

The collection of
Rachelle/shelliebear &
I Max/DeathMetalMax

1.0 Ringer bp <name="Nurgz"/>
1.0 Dark wild type/Dinker bp <name="CleoMantra"/>
0.1 Bright wild type/Dinker bp<name="Madison"/>
1.0 Butter motley corn <name="Schiztz"/>
0.1 Ultramel motley corn <name="Cheesecake"/>

[metalhedthree]

i read somewhere (i think on this site actually) where you just cut a piece of plastic similar to your tubs and place that between the probe and flexwatt and tape it down. that way it would act as if the heat was transferring through one of your tubs. of course it might be a little off from the actual temps in your tubs. just something i heard worked for someone else.

[kitedemon]

A dimmer does not restrict the thermostat from doing its job. IF your flexwatt can not raise the temp of your tub to the temp you desire while having it restricted to 92 degrees, then you have not selected the appropriate flex watt for your application. Dimmer is there to keep the tape from exceeding 92 degrees. Thermostats are there to turn the tape on and off thus allowing the temps to raise to 92 degrees. If you need temps above 92 degrees, you probably shouldn't be using flexwatt.

Again this holds true if the room temp is stable. If it is not stable or becomes unstable the thermostat may need to increase the flexwatt heat for a short period of time above 92º (like if your oil heater fails and the room drops 20ºF over the weekend you were away) If you have everything tuned so that the flexwatt does not get over 92 and that gives you say 91 or 90 a 20º drop gives you 70º hot spot?

If your room temp is 100% stable there is no point for a t-stat at all. All you would need is a ultratherm or like UTH and a rheostat and nothing else.

If you room is not stable caping the max temp is not going to help in a critical condition. I simply do not see why you think that a failure can only come from t stats and flexwatt and not other systems too. Properly done a t stat does not allow the flexwatt get to an unsafe temp a failsafe Tstat prevents the max temp in EVENT of an over heating failure from burning the snakes and over heating the enclosure it also will work just fine in an under heating failure as well. Your described set up is only useful in over power failure but does nothing in event of an under power failure. GCFI protects against shorts if one occurs better than a rheostat will. Currently outside my window it is 38ºF the room I am in is 58ºF if I was heating my snake room to 80 with say an oil heater and it failed (like my last one did, tripped an internal breaker faulty manufacturing) the snake room as it is isolated from the house temp would drop to below 58º in no time. I prefer to keep my snakes health and run the small risk that in a few days (max a week) the flexwatt will be ok running at 110 or so to hold a temp of 90 in the rack. Rather than maxing out at 92 and having 72 in the rack 72º/55º sounds like a bad idea to me.

Are you suggesting that a primary thermostat will fail open the built in safety circuit that protects against triac failure will also fail AND the fail safe will also fail all at once? There is a reason why military computers and everything uses a triple redundant back up systems the odds are so long that they will all fail at once that the only way it can happen is a catastrophic failure like a tidal wave or something that makes all issues moot.

[suzuki4life]

If you're worried about your room heater failing, buy a back up heater.


Flex watt should NEVER exceed recommended temps. To do so is risking a fire hazard. the risk of cold snakes is not worth burning down your building or worse.

Rheostats have no way to protect against shorts that I am aware of..

They are fancy names for dimmer switches.

Flexwatt is not designed nor intended to do what you are planning to do with it.

[suzuki4life]

OP. Would any body here say that, using two dimmers for two strips of flex watt, would be a good idea when using a dual probe/ dual output herpstat 2?

depends on what you are saying.

If you are running 2 pieces at same temp, then sure. However, if the herpstat is "dual" output, how do you plan to use only one dimmer?