heat mats all failing

[distaff]

If that were the case, you would need an air space on both sides of the heat mat, and they wouldn't make stick-mats.

[tttaylorrr]

If that were the case, you would need an air space on both sides of the heat mat, and they wouldn't make stick-mats.

being attached to something solid doesn't create this problem because the molecules have a place to "go" and solid objects hold heat better, needing less energy overall.

heat mats use radiant heat. they have to expend a lot of their energy to travel through the solid object, but the solid object holds onto the heat, so less energy is needed to maintain a certain temp.

[Bogertophis]

It's my understanding (as a multi-decades user of UTH, mostly Flexwatt but have tried others too) per the instructions with Flexwatt (!) that the "breathing
space" is so the mat itself doesn't over-heat. Simple. In a confined space under cages, the heat builds up because the cage (w/ substrate & all) & whatever
it's sitting on all acts as insulation...and it's the over-heating that can cause it to fail. I can't speak for the installation instructions with those other UTH brands,
but if your thermostat is "on-off" type, and they are capable of getting way hotter than they should, maybe they should specify to only use them with a proportional thermostat??? Since my Flexwatt has lasted for DECADES, I tend to think the "breathing space" is essential.

And about Ultratherm: I "second" the fact that those get way too hot! They seem to be a quality product, but it's not my choice for my mostly-colubrids.

I do think the constant off-off type of regulation might be responsible for the other UTH brands burning out so fast...the ones you bought might also be
"counterfeit" products...ever think of that? Thanks to unscrupulous companies & insufficient regulation* (I know some of you think that's a nasty* word...)
these "fakes" end up in our world, where they might cause all sorts of havoc (like automotive failures > fatal accidents, break-downs in media, etc).

[Jellybeans]

How bout a human heating pad?
BUT you do have to have air flow so tank needs to be elevated NOT sitting directly on top of it. No chance of snake obtaining a burn either.

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[Bogertophis]

How bout a human heating pad?
BUT you do have to have air flow so tank needs to be elevated NOT sitting directly on top of it. No chance of snake obtaining a burn either.

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

You can use them in a pinch, temporarily, but they do say NOT to cover them. And I'm not so sure the quality is any better than UTH made for snakes, so?
I don't know of anyone using them long-term, do you? And they sure can't be taped under a cage, they're bulky.

[Bogertophis]

How bout a human heating pad?
BUT you do have to have air flow so tank needs to be elevated NOT sitting directly on top of it. No chance of snake obtaining a burn either.

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I wouldn't say "no chance", not with BPs. If it was running on 'high', eventually (even with air space) the cage floor above it could get too hot. They have built-in
"hi-lo-medium" controls usually, but that's for humans who can feel & make adjustments...the instructions say to monitor them closely for patients who may be un-
conscious or otherwise unable to control it themselves. The one I have feels very hot & I'm about 98.6*, so I'm sure it's goes WAY over that.

[distaff]

The counterfeit issue is why I don't buy reptile supplies off Amazon. Had a bad experience with a dog training collar.

The on/off issue may be getting to a place where I can understand the problem. The instrument read-out may not be recording what is going on, if the t-stat lets things get too hot before turning off...not sure. Anyway, there is theory, and then there is the real world. Theory is only as good as it matches the reality. Perhaps the air space works as a buffer, dissipating dangerous spikes, if in fact, we are not getting the correct information from our equipment. Again, not sure..BF suggested I contact the mfr.

Are our snakes suffering for this?
Makes me want to scrap all the heat mats, and go with overhead CHE's!

[Jellybeans]

You see the space I have between the blue heating pad and the tub? Works great!
I've been using this for my corn snake. I have her in a tub right now but I will be moving her to an aquarium soon and I will do the same thing. But with an aquarium I will not have such a large gap between tank and heating pad

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[Bodie]

I got a total of 5 cages. I use RHPs in all the cages instead of CHEs, but the result is the same. Overhead heat. There is one that also has an uth. I agree about buying a uth on Amazon, a few years back over about an 8 month period, I bought 2 zoomed uth. The 1st did not work at all out of the package. The 2nd would only get to about 82 degrees on the pad.