Helix Question

[FIREball]

What do you have the thermostat set at? Got my rack in the other day and went ahead and just turned it on and set it at 95. Checked today and the tape doesnt feel that hot. My IR thermometer isnt in yet so I cant tell you the temp but it doesnt feel like 95. Also the probe is taped to the flexwatt.

[Larry Suttles]

I'm running back heat on my racks so I have to run the helix a little high 98 to get the hot spot up to 88. You won't know for sure what the temps are inside the tub until you use your temp gun. No worries, at 95 the tape doesn't feel very hot to the touch. Belly heat or back heat 95 is most likely pretty close to where its going to end up when you start checking with the temp gun.

[kavmon]

any digital thermometer like accurites, taylor, oregon scientific, etc. will get you in the ballpark too!

the UL listed accuracy on most IR thermometers are about the same as those 2-3 deg. +/-.



vaughn

[West Coast Jungle]

any digital thermometer like accurites, taylor, oregon scientific, etc. will get you in the ballpark too!

the UL listed accuracy on most IR thermometers are about the same as those 2-3 deg. +/-.



vaughn

Thats what i do. I even use multiple digital thermometers to double check them too.

[FIREball]

While I was at Home Depot today getting a soldering iron I picked up a $7 digital thermometer which includes humidity. Currently the temps are 85 under the hide and humidity around 30% but I just through in the aspen and water bowl today so we'll see in the morning. No snakes in there yet.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

i have my probe taped to the UTH on the back of the tank. That is, it's placed between the UTH outside the cage and the plexiglass. I have to set my helix at 98 to get 94 surface temp inside the cage. some people recommend keeping your probe on the inside for this purpose, but i worry too much about my snakes moving it. i'd rather just settle for being off by a few degrees to get the correct inside temp. While it's true that as my ambient air temps vary so will my temps inside the cage, I sleep better knowing that my snakes vary by a couple of degrees rather than having that probe bumped and cooking them.

Remember, these are wild animals which have existed for thousands of years throughout wild temperature swings.

JonV

[FIREball]

Well just got my IR thermometer in and my hot side is around 89 and cool side is around 80, this is with my helix set at 100. Room temp is usually around 78deg. Should I bump up the helix to maybe 102 or keep at 100.

[nevohraalnavnoj]

i have my helix probe taped to the heat pad outside the tank. i set the helix at 98 to get 94 inside the tank.

JonV

[coldbloodaddict]

IMO it's never a good idea to have your thermostat set at high temps...Set the helix to your desired temp then move the probe closer or further from the heat source until the Helix and temp gun read the same thing...

[FIREball]

The probe is taped to the flexwatt, cant get much closer that.