Ultratherm issue

[Caitlin]

My two baby Tarahumara Mountain Boas are still in quarantine, being kept in Sterilite tubs on a wire metal shelf with an Ultratherm UTH connected to a JumpStart thermostat set to 92F for the hot spot. Ambient room temp is 78.

This morning when I was checking temps, the thermostat was reading 71F, and the UTH was reading 104 as measured with a temp gun. Also, the UTH is now all black as opposed to showing the typical black striped appearance. It isn't burned. It's just pure black.

Thank heaven I had recently ordered a couple of Herpstats to start to replace my remaining JumpStarts. I still have a few young snakes in Sterilite tubs + Ultratherms, so I'll be able to shuffle enclosures around a bit and use a big Ultratherm connected to a Herpstat and shared between the two bins for the quarantined babies.

I'm assuming a thermostat failure. My question is whether I'm correct in assuming that the Ultratherm is ruined. I've never seen anything like this before.[IMG][/IMG]

[RickyNY]

I have 2 Ultratherm and they looked like yours out of the bag, never had black stripes. I think you're confusing with a Heat Tape.
I would bet that is the JumpStart at fault here or the placement of the probe.

[Bogertophis]

I've never seen a "striped" Ultratherm UTH either... But other UTH heat tape (Flexwatt & various brands) yes, they're "striped".

I don't think your Ultratherm is ruined, but for sure test it out before re-installation.

[Caitlin]

I'm assuming it's a thermostat failure - the JumpStarts are decent but cheap. I'd be surprised if it is a probe placement issue - I check probes every day, as I'm just paranoid that way.

And you're right, thank goodness! Many of my Ultratherms (I have no heat tape - just Ultratherms) do have the typical striped heat tape appearance - but in checking photos on the Bean Farm website, it looks like some of the Ultratherms are 'striped', while others are black. I don't know why this would be; I don't know the inner workings of heat tape/UTH. Obviously I didn't take note of that when I ordered this one, which was one of their larger models and meant to be shared between the two baby Boa tubs.

I was thrown off balance by the thermostat failure this morning, and once I was sure the baby Boas were OK, I was a bit upset thinking that one of my bigger, more expensive Ultratherms was ruined. Plus I didn't look forward to the enclosure juggling I'd have to do to make sure that the snakes still in tubs were all taken care of in terms of UTH.

Thanks for so patiently pointing out my silliness, lol. Though I am going to pull the trigger today on replacing those last couple of JumpStarts with Herpstats!

Here's a stripey Ultratherm. I'm not totally crazy!

[bcr229]

Was the heat mat sitting directly on the wire mesh of the shelf? I always thought they were supposed to be on a material that wouldn't conduct electricity or heat easily, like PVC, plastic, wood, etc.

[Caitlin]

Sorry, should have specified that the heat mat is on a piece of thin styrofoam!

[RickyNY]

Here's a stripey Ultratherm. I'm not totally crazy!

LOL, there you go! A stripey Ultratherm.

Check this place out, better prices than the Bean Farm, if you need more Ultratherms in the future:
https://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads

[EL-Ziggy]

I've used Jumpstarts for about 8 years and haven't had a malfunction yet thank Goodness. Hold the thermostat probe in your hand and see if the temperature changes. That'll let you know if the Jumpstart is defective. If it's shot get a new one of your choice. If the t-stat is operational then reevaluate the probe placement.