How to make your own Rheostat for less than $7! Detailed instructions.

DdotSpot said:

Depending on what you wanna do, yes. I have my Rheostat hooked up to the top outlet and the other half is a regular constant hot outlet. You CAN hook up another Rheostat to the other outlet like Energi2er did, but you will need a bigger box. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been in the process of switching all my junk to a new computer.

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Hey no problem, I thank you for the reply, I just wanted to check to see if you needed to run another hot to bottom of outlet.
Keep up the great work on the post ! :cheers: :cheers:

If you're lazy like me (after all, I did buy a snake not a dog), these can also be bought pre-made for $2-3 more.

Safety

I am not trying to diss on anybody's creativity or frugalness. However I feel that if you cannot afford to buy a UL listed item to control your UTH, you can't afford to own a snake. In both Designs I saw no attempt to secure the wiring to the electrical boxes. Black electrical tape is NOT sufficient. I am not against custom electrical work (just check out my garage) but if you are going to do something, it is worth doing right and safe. I will post links for items that can be used to secure your wires to the case that holds the dimmer and outlet. Whenever working with electricity around a wet environment it is imperative to have a GFI outlet, like the one in your bathroom that shuts off when overloaded (say if you throw the hair dryer in the full bath tub). Grounding is also ultra important. Thats why building code now requires that your outlets be grounded. Remember you are working with electricity and when you lose respect for it, it is not if but when will it bite you. You are taking care of an animal, care for it and don't endanger its life or mame it to save a few bucks. Sorry to be such a buzzkill or rain on anybody's parade, but you have to do whats right. I got my respect for electricity after losing it first, please learn from my mistake and don't create your own.

polypropolene wire clamps, http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_011_003_004_000&Page=1

Wire Clips, http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_011_010_008_003&Page=1

Project boxes, http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_011_002_012_000&Page=1

djsethall said:

...please learn from my mistake and don't create your own.

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I am sorry, but it's hard to learn from someone else's mistake if we don't know what that mistake was.

Honestly, I think you are going overboard when you say "if you cannot afford to buy a UL listed item to control your UTH, you can't afford to own a snake." I see nothing wrong with wiring your own rheostat (or heat tape for that matter). I've been using self-wired flexwatt heat tape for 4 years now. I also use a few of these rheostats. I have not had any problems with either one. Has anyone else had any problems?

Djse...

Hrmm..ok I'm not an electrician, but a big part of my job involves repairing power tools and doing basic wiring for 440v welding machines. I've built several dimmers myself, granted I use "strain relief" set ups to secure my cords to the dimmer housing, and have had zero problems.

If you're using a double insulated cord (i.e. one prong wider than the other) you have basic grounding. I have no issue with the recommendation of using a GFCI outlet, whether you're near water or not. A power strip set up with GFCI protection works well too.

To be honest there are a LOT of junk, brand name rheostats on the market, and they're UL listed. You're more likely to cook a snake over the long haul using them.

Your statement came off a bit harsh :

However I feel that if you cannot afford to buy a UL listed item to control your UTH, you can't afford to own a snake.

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I have no problem with you making recommendations to folks, especially where safety is concerned, but household home made dimmers have been used for years by herpers with out problems.

djsethall said:

Grounding is also ultra important. Thats why building code now requires that your outlets be grounded. Remember you are working with electricity and when you lose respect for it, it is not if but when will it bite you.

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Interesting point, since there is NO way to properly ground a heat mat or heat tape, and the only part grounded on a heat lamp is the reflector. Many heating devices do not come with a ground pin on the main power supply, so having a GFCI outlet is totally pointless, city code or not. Sure, have the outlet, it isn't going to help squat with perfectly "legal" appliances (aka heating devices in this case). :sidestep:

I wasn't trying to be harsh, just honest. Lots of things work for years but it is always that one time when it failed that everyone remembers. That is all that I am trying to say. I personally would not use something of that quality in any outlet in my home. If anyone has questions as to safety, ask anyone that has experience in building such items. Even just asking the guy at Home Depot or Radioshack as to how to make something as safe as possible and they will be glad to help you out. Research is key to starting anything new. Like me for instance, I had no idea how to care for a snake until researching husbandry and checking out forums like these. As to the mistake I made, I was building a 3 foot Jacobs Ladder and didn't ground it properly. I was charged with about 55,000 volts and discharged when I went to unplug it. Luckily for me it was all volts and no amps. A hair raising experience to say the least. :bang:

Experience, I have been a licenced/working electrician for over 15 years and I would almost guarantee you have ungrounded appliances somewhere in your home.

Please do not take this as an argument, just stating my oppinion as you are. We just differ is all, that's what makes us human. :wavey:

The dimmers come with wire caps. I have built one and have been using it for awhile, no fires yet. My comment is this: If the dimmers (meant to be used with wire caps) are so un-safe, then why do they sell them? COme on, its the same thing building a rheostat with it as it would be if you installed it in the wall to control the light (only IMO a little safer because Ddotspot suggests wraping electrical tape around the wire caps). Take apart one of your light switches, or fixtures in your home. what do you see? Wires, and caps.. The same thing thats inside the rheostat.

Charles, yes if you take off the plate on a light switch or an outlet there are wires and caps. If you go a little further past the gang the wires leading to the gang are generally secured to the framing of the wall with a large staple or some other type of fastening. Also the wires in your walls you really don't have to worry about tripping over. All that I am saying is that if you are going to build a custom unit like this, make it safe so that if maybe somebody pulls on the wires somehow (tripping over it, trying to straighten it, whatever) that you don't have live bare wires hanging out. Try this sometime. Put two wires together using a wire nut and see how hard it is to pull apart.It is not that hard. I am not against making custom units, just make them safe. The original post is a great idea, but can be improved upon easily for safety's sake. :flames: :sidestep:

Well, i knew it was only a matter of time before someone tried to rail me for my post. Boy I sure hate it when threads take left turns like this. *sidenote* can we make some requirement that you send a PM first?

Anyhoo, can of worms already open. Ok lets address a few things...

First of all, thank you for your post. Its important to have and want to have everything as safe as possible for your animals.

I personally would not use something of that quality in any outlet in my home. If anyone has questions as to safety, ask anyone that has experience in building such items.

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I appreciate the compliment. I've wired near to 300 homes/businesses in my short-lived life and am not such a snewbie in that department. I can give you some good advice on building such items...

Even just asking the guy at Home Depot or Radioshack as to how to make something as safe as possible and they will be glad to help you out.

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Please...DO NOT ask these people for advice(esp Radioshack). 98% of the employees know JUST enough about electricity to give you the wrong advice and still make it sound like a good idea.

Whenever working with electricity around a wet environment it is imperative to have a GFI outlet, like the one in your bathroom that shuts off when overloaded (say if you throw the hair dryer in the full bath tub).

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I sure hope that nobody is using this item in the bathroom. :eek1: Just fyi, this is strictly a guide for the heating in your snake rack. Not to adjust the voltage for your hair dryer. GFCI would be pretty useless in this situation. But hey, I'm all for safety! If you want to spend $25 for a GFCI alone go for it, but you wont find any "UL listed" rheostats using them...

All that I am saying is that if you are going to build a custom unit like this, make it safe so that if maybe somebody pulls on the wires somehow (tripping over it, trying to straighten it, whatever) that you don't have live bare wires hanging out.

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Well if thats all your saying, then good. We are on the same level. I certainly don't want ANYONE being able to pull these wires and it fall apart. Nor do I want anyone tripping over their cord. My suggestion is, if you build this item(which you are quite obviously not), when you secure it to your rack or UTH move the cords out of walkways so that you do not trip on them. Also, make sure that the wires are secure in the box(usually tested by pulling with sufficient might and making sure they are not moving).

I bought one of those "Zoo Med Rept Temp" rheostats, and I guarantee that my design is 3x safer. It is no longer being used on any of my heaters because of that fact. For one thing(as Mike mentioned), I cannot bring the temperature to below 100F. Secondly the box where the control dial is wired into has fallen apart(the metal screws that hold it together stripped out the plastic thread - go figure).

I'm done with part 1 of this response...we'll see if I can muster up the strength to finish all that I have to say later.





:wavey:

I used a 16 Gauge 3 conductor Heavy insulated extension cord wire. I tied a knot in the wire on the inside of my gang box, so the knot in the wire is bigger than the hole it goes through. I can pull pretty hard on the wire and its not going to disturb the wires on the inside, they will still have plenty of slack. Also there is no way the knot can come undone because the harder you pull the tighter the knot gets. Not that I go and pull on the wire as hard as I can, But I think mine is pretty safe.

DdotSpot said:

Please...if I left anything unclear, or you have any questions, please let me know. As I said before this isn't the only way to make one of these, actually I prefer this design over the other one, but its just a hair more expensive(not much though).

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2questions 1 comment
1st question:how did you learn this
2nd question:how much is a store bought rheostat
comment:Brilliant

I don't know why I am responding to this thread as it has already gotten out of hand. :blowup:

The most important advise anybody here can give is use common sense even if you don't have any. What I mean is, if you are not comfortable with this type of set-up than don't use it and if you are, do use it. You could spend a little more and get boxes with clamps to attach you cords and make everything nice and neat.

I have to agree with the comments about what is being sold out in the reptile world for these things. I looked at a bunch yesterday at a show and could not believe how crappy they were and how much they wanted for them. Obviously these items are manufactured for the brand-name reptile companies by third party contracts. I decided to make my own for the new rack I have.

What really freaked me out was one dealer of new reptile supplies was selling new and used helix controls pre-wired with only wirenuts loosely put on. The nuts were falling off as you picked them up. The used ones looked like rats chewed on them. The price was really good on them, but I could see that 13 yr old kid buying it and who knows what would happen. We all need to be responsible to keep this industry/hobby alive. :wavey:

stormi said:

2questions 1 comment
1st question:how did you learn this
2nd question:how much is a store bought rheostat
comment:Brilliant

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1st question: I worked as a journeyman's assist.
2nd question: about $20-$25

comment: Thanks for the kind words

I am actually going to be building two custom cages. One for my fiance to hold 16 corns and mine to hold 2 Red Tail Boas. I will be employing a custom heating unit with controls of my own design. I will be using 12x3 cable for all of my wiring. It is double insulated for use in wet environments, you never know if water might spill or not. The flex watt tape will be sandwiched between rigid foiled insulation and a layer of 1/4 inch ceramic tile fully grouted and waterproofed and on top of that will be a layer of 1/8 inch showerboard fully caulked for waterproofness. If anyone has autocad I would love to share the design and hear any input anyone might have. My plan is to use the little digital thermometer/hygrometers that are sold at MGReptiles for monitoring and the digital thermostats for control. Good luck on any projects you might involve yourself in, but remember safety.

When wiring an outlet or switch into an electrical box there are small aluminum fasteners that go into the holes in the box with a large round nut on the inside. The wire runs through these and can be screwed down.

A tip for a wire/plug; Open your junk drawer (don't we all have a drawer somewhere in the house with extra wires and misc junk?) and look to see if you have an extra computer power cord.

As far as grounding, if your UTH or heattape doesn't have a ground plug, then grounding the outlet does you no good.

Rick

I just wanted to add that a dimmer for a floor lamp is what I use. It's the same type of setup as the one built here, except that it's all one nice litte piece, and only cost's about 11 bucks. It's the first one on this page:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&Ne=8000&N=5001640&category=&pad=true

Here's a better page:
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/in...@@1138294628.27569@@@@&pid=9052&CATEGORY=3174

You can find these all over....

very good info... thanks