Rack wiring/rewiring question.

[ThyTempest]

Hey everyone,

I am trying to decide what to get first, since I know I wont be able to get it all at once.

I want to get a Herpstat Pro for controlling all of the racks, incubators, lighting etc that I hope to have sometime in the future.

I want to expand my ball python collection, and maybe our cornsnake collection, too, so I am planning on buying, or probably building, a rack system. Right now we have 3 different species that require 2 different temp gradients.

Lets say I made a 4x6 rack, but dont buy any more snakes to fill them for a while, so it would just be our one bp, 1.1 baby boas, and 1.1 baby corns. The boas and corns fall into the same hot spot, but the bp's is higher. If we wired the flexwatt to be, for instance, 5 levels together, and the one level separate for the different temp, how easy/difficult/costly/etc would it be to rewire that level into the others to make the whole rack able to be controlled on one input.

If what I am asking isnt clear, just let me know.

Thanks

[JKExotics]

Easiest way to wire the flexwatt up is just buy one big piece for the whole rack and zig-zag it through the shelves.

If you want one level at a different temp you'll just have to have the herpstat control it via a different probe and have individual settings. It's not hard seems kind of a waste though as your giving up one controller for only 1 shelf almost makes more sense to build another small rack and dedicate it to that.

I believe I got what your asking let me know if it's not.

[brainman1000]

What you are talking about sounds like wiring them in parallel.

Check out this link:
http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/Flexwatt_parallel.pdf

[JKExotics]

What you are talking about sounds like wiring them in parallel.

Check out this link:
http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/Flexwatt_parallel.pdf

Don't see how wiring in parallel would work really. Usually when your wiring like this your wiring the same cuts to get an even stable temp. I think they want one shelf at one temp and the rest at another.

Only way I see this happening is either with 2 controllers and 2 probes or playing with the temps and sacrificing exact temps for a in between temp read that will "satisfy" the snakes, but I really don't recommend this. Having two different cuts in parallel without exact reads and individual temp controllers is dangerous in my opinion. The Herpstat Pro I believe is capable of handling 4 controllers in one unit and has 4 probe slots, but if you don't want to use more than one thats where the problem lies. Better off either using 2 individual controllers on that thermostat or building another small rack for those indiviual temps you want and taking advantage of more rack space for that slot.

Hope that makes sense.

[JKExotics]

Sorry double post, I should be asleep but insomnia is bad!

Can't edit the post above anymore so here is something I just thought of:

If in fact you don't mind using two of your 4 controllers on one rack then the solution is simple, hook up one big piece of flexwatt to the lower 4 shelves with one probe/controller and another small piece for the one shelf with another probe/controller and boom adjust each accordingly.

[brainman1000]

Only way I see this happening is ... with 2 controllers ...

That, of course, is a given. What I was getting at is that the tubs that have to be maintained at 1 temp can all be wired in parallel and connected and monitored by one controller.

Basically, each separate temp requirement will require a separate temp controller. They can exist in the same physical rack and be wired separately, or they can be separate racks all together. I probably should have elaborated a little more in my first post.

[ThyTempest]

Yeah, I know I will need two controllers, but my question is for instance, I get enough ball pythons to fill that rack and dont want to split it up by temps/shelves anymore. How easy would it be to rewire back into all one temp/one control later, and just move the others into a different rack or back into stand alone tubs.

[nixer]

Yeah, I know I will need two controllers, but my question is for instance, I get enough ball pythons to fill that rack and dont want to split it up by temps/shelves anymore. How easy would it be to rewire back into all one temp/one control later, and just move the others into a different rack or back into stand alone tubs.

why would you have to rewire it all you would have to do is plug that other plug into the same thermostat as long as the tubs are the same and the heat tape is the same wattage

[anendeloflorien]

You could always get a herpstat 2, I believe that allows you to control seprately 2 different temperature areas. That would be easier and I think cheaper than buying two regular herpstats or helixes.

As far as wiring goes if you wire up each strip of flexwatt individually and run them to a power strip which could be plugged into the thermostat. Just each individual temperature area would need its own power strip. That's how I have my corn rack set up and it works great.

[ThyTempest]

You could always get a herpstat 2, I believe that allows you to control seprately 2 different temperature areas. That would be easier and I think cheaper than buying two regular herpstats or helixes.

As far as wiring goes if you wire up each strip of flexwatt individually and run them to a power strip which could be plugged into the thermostat. Just each individual temperature area would need its own power strip. That's how I have my corn rack set up and it works great.

I planned on using a power strip....is it pretty common/easy to just set each level to have its own power plug? I plan on buying a Herpstat Pro, not a helix, herpstat or herpstat II.