Zoo Med 500 Thermostat... Just some info

[bcampos]

Ok guys so here it goes... I've affixed my kpot for those of you that want to yell at me.. but its just a little information I have obtained after a month or so of back and forth with heat and humidity issues...

I know the zoo med thermostat has a bad wrap on this forum, and many people have talked about how evil and unreliable they are, and possible bad experiences, but after using it for a while I have found a few things out....

WARNING: THE ZOO MED CAN BE USED EFFICIENTLY IF AND ONLY IF YOU HAVE A GOOD DIGITAL THERMOMETER, WITH THE HOT SIDE PROBE IN THE SAME AREA AS THE ZOO MED PROBE. FOR USE ON THE UTH ONLY.

First off: My attempt was to build the best possible system for my BP on a reasonable budget. After a few photo checks on the forum I was set up with a 20G tank, repti carpet, two matching hides, a UTH, day/night heat lamp etc.....

The largest problem I find here is people saying it is unreliable, mostly because it does not have a digital display of temperature, only a dial adjustment. Also, people tend to say that it does not stay at the temp you set it at..... In fact it doesn't, it has a 4 degree F "switch"... IE: on at 90 off at 94, waits till it drops to 90 before turning back on.

Simply put, place the hot side temp probe under the hot side hide. Place the zoo med probe under the hot side hide as well... Monitor the peak and drop of the thermostat until you have it in the 90 on, 94 off setting... Put the cover on, no problem....

$25 thermostat working perfectly...

Also: Zoo med rheostat on the heat lamp allows me to "adjust the cool side quite easily... The thermostat holds the hot side no matter what the other influence, and the rheo can let me set the cool side to 82 on the nose...

Just my 02... Hope this helps someone who is stuck with the Zoo Med, or in a long wait for their super expensive versions...

-Camp

[jeffjr464]

haha!! i figured out the 4 degree thing the other day, after dinking with the stupid dial for weeks!! like you said it goes to 95, then down to 91, i think im still gonna get a ranco or something once i get a rack.

[dr del]

Hi,


And if the snake moves the probe?

I thought the main gripe people had with it was the greater possibility of it stopping working alltogether and jamming full on cooking their snakes?

I agree that it sounds quite tricky to dial in but a 4 degree cycle out of a normally recomended 10 degree thermal gradient in the tank sounds like a lot to me.

Have you found out what the temp setting is at the top of its range? I ask because if you had a large enough range you could move the probe outside the tank and attatch it to the uth between the tank and the mat or just on the top of the uth if there was space and dial it in from there.


dr del

[bcampos]

When i hooked it up to a uth directly outside of a tank I was able to cook it up to 104 as per an attached thermometer.....

But can't a snake move a probe on a ranco or other type thermostat also???

I place the probe wire under the repti carpet and the probe comes out of a small slit (with the temp probe).

It was actually very easy to dial it in, just needed the knowledge about the 4 degree span.. Given, the super digital ones would be easier, this is what i have to work with.

[bcampos]

And at the same time... I dont know about the turning off all together.. but the temperature difference (cooking) is explained in the 4 degree span...

IE: someone unaware of this sets the thermostat to turn on at 94, not knowing this is going to be the bottom of the spectrum... This individual will be upset to find out an hour later that the thermostat is but starting to heat at 94, and then cooks up 98 or so.....

Understanding that the thermostat turns on, then heats to 4 degrees higher than its starting point, allows one to control it properly...

[Swingline0.0.1]

Does anyone know the 'cycle' of the Rancos or other higher-end t-stats?

[dr del]

When i hooked it up to a uth directly outside of a tank I was able to cook it up to 104 as per an attached thermometer.....

But can't a snake move a probe on a ranco or other type thermostat also???

I place the probe wire under the repti carpet and the probe comes out of a small slit (with the temp probe).

It was actually very easy to dial it in, just needed the knowledge about the 4 degree span.. Given, the super digital ones would be easier, this is what i have to work with.

Hi,

Yes they can move those probes as well - though the slit in the repti-carpet might stop them physically moving yours too much. Mind you doesn't stop them P'ing on it.

If it can be done it's probably a better idea to have it attatched to the heater outside the tank so the snake cannot cause it any problems at all. If it can be set as high as you've found reliably then it should be possible to do.

I still think the 4 degree span is a bit large for my tastes and I would probably put a good dimmer switch in line before the thermostat as I have read too many reports of them failing to be entirely comfortable trusting my snakes health to them.

Each to their own but for a saving of under $55 I'd pass.

And for a really economical setup of course I cannot recomend tubs highly enough.


dr del

[dr del]

Does anyone know the 'cycle' of the Rancos or other higher-end t-stats?

Hi,

I'm sure I recall someone saying you could actually set that on at least some of them.

I think it might have been Adam but hopefully someone will be able to confirm or deny that for you.


dr del

[Swingline0.0.1]

Yeah, I'm sure the proportional ones have a much smaller variance, but we were sort of talking about an economical solution!

Do the tub setups usually require a secondary heat source?

[bcampos]

My only problem is everyone says, I've heard reports, or I know a guy etc.... No one that has pmed me about the repti temp has said it just died, only people who apparently didnt understand the thermostat setting....

I think the majority of people here have a high speed, low drag, lots of cash out system with all the bells and whistles. I'm not saying that is bad in any way, but some people can't spend the extra cash...

My particular situation... I can spend the cash, I choose not too because my system works very well now that I understand it. Had my BP for about a month now... perfect temps all the way around.. humidity is good... eats every 5 days like a champ... Never struck at me, and gets carried around the house for about 30 minutes a day.... I wish my dogs were that maintenance free.