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UTH Stopped Heating

stingsmom

stingsmom

New member
I have an ExoTerra Desert Wave Heat Mat regulated by a lamp dimmer. Both are less than 3 weeks old, but have been holding stable temps (within a few degrees - directly related to variations in room temp).

Yesterday evening, I was startled to find my warm side thermometer reading practically the same as my cool side. I thought the snake might just have dislodged the probe, but it was not so. The glass felt cool. The UTH felt cool. The indicator light still showed power on at the dimmer switch. I checked, unplugged, and replugged everything, but didn't find anything notably wrong. Intending to check if the UTH would function at all, I moved the dimmer switch to full current flow - and the temp began to rise. Within 1/2 hour or less, everything was working just as it had before - the dimmer switch was right back in the previous position, and the temps were right back to 85F / 70F, where they've been for the past two weeks. I know that shutting off is far better than overheating, but it bothers me to have a system just completely shut off without knowing why. I can't even say that we've had a power outage or surge, 'cause I know I haven't had to reset any clocks lately.

Does anyone out there have a theory, or a similar experience? :shrugs:
 
p.s. I did try to Search first, but UTH is not a searchable term, and temperature, heat, quit, shut, off, etc. are far too common. I haven't gotten the knack of searching when my terms are so basic!
 
Everyonce in a while i will wake up to find the cool side the same same temp as my warm side, I don't know what causes it but I just move the nob on my rheostat a tiny bit and it starts up again. I'm guessing that it might be a brown out or something that happens o_O. i would suggest that if it happens again just nudge it a little and see if it starts working again, if it works then you shouldn't have to worry about overheating if you accidently forget to turn it back down when/if it happens again.
 
Yeah, did you ever use an old microwave where to have to crank the knob (haha, they had knobs) WAY past where to want to set it, and then turn it back down? That's what I have to do with my rheostats, too. Sometimes the power.."slips" and they need to be reset, and you can usually only go DOWN do the temperature, not up.
 
bitsy said:
Whereabouts is the sensor for the thermostat?
Click to expand...

Don't have a thermostat, just a lamp-dimmer (rheostat), which reduces the heat level by adjusting the electrical current flow. I plan to GET a thermostat, just to avoid having to heat/cool the entire house on behalf of one snake when we go on vacation! A rheostat doesn't adjust by temp, it just runs constantly at a set level. Still, when the ambient temps in the house are reasonably stable, it should work. My concern was that it suddenly shut off for no apparent cause.

Sounds like that happens to others with rheostats, but you don't know why either. Ahh, the mysteries of electricity!

I'm perplexed, because I was considering a relatively inexpensive thermostat, but using it in combination with the lamp dimmer (recommended on posts related to potential for thermostats to fail - the rheostat would prevent cooked snakes by limiting the top-end the UTH would get to in event of thermostat failure). However, if the rheostat can fail by shutting off the heat . . . What would happen if we were on vacation in winter, with the house temp maintained in low 60's, and a similar shutoff occurred. Any health concerns for a snake at that temp for a week?
 
stingsmom said:
What would happen if we were on vacation in winter, with the house temp maintained in low 60's, and a similar shutoff occurred. Any health concerns for a snake at that temp for a week?
Click to expand...

I suppose that was a stupid question. A search on brumation indicates that breeders intentionally keep adults at 45 - 65F for a couple of months to prepare them for the breeding season. I'll assume that if this happened by accident to a six-month old snake, he could probably take it in stride!
 
He's be ok just as long as he wasn't trying to digest, which he wouldn't be if you were on vacation anyway.
 
This is the exact reason dimmers scare me.. A thermostat will not let that happen:) Are you still using the dimmer?
 
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