UTH questions

I'm looking at buying the UTH's for my new viv stack and now I'm reading horror stories about zoo med UTH's short circuiting and combusting. So I'm just wondering is there another brand out there that's safer to use, and also I'm planning on placing these UTH's on tile slabs and putting them actually inside the tank and held down in place with a glue gun. I'm just wanting to make sure this set up is okay with a thermostat regulating it and also what the best UTH's are out there on the market.

For the Viv UTH's, we use Flukers which we have never had any problems with but I'm sure there are other quality brands as well.
Not sure if you're using Serilite containers but we put the UTH or Flexwatt under the vivs.
In the past where I've put the UTH inside I always used tiles on top of the UTH to protect the reptile from direct contact with the UTH and to protect the UTH from liquids.
And I'm sure you're aware of the importance of a good thermostat to control the heat output. I've measured unregulated UTH's at 130 degrees plus.

Good luck!

Yeah I would never risk an inside enclosure UTH without a thermostat, any UTH without a thermostat is dangerous enough. The enclosure is all made entirely of aspen board with a polyeurothane coating. As for the UTH set up I plan on a quarter inch thick tile with the UTH adhered to it with a slight rise to avoid pressure on the UTH and then seeling it down with a hot glue gun and attaching the probe directly to the tile itself.

I think the short circuiting problem is a rare occurrence. I have two zoo-meds running without issue. I just make sure there's a grounded plug between the wall and my uth to protect from power surges :3

The ultratherm heat pads have a very good reputation. I've never personally used one, but I have had many people recommend them to me.
http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads

yojoe05 said:

Yeah I would never risk an inside enclosure UTH without a thermostat, any UTH without a thermostat is dangerous enough. The enclosure is all made entirely of aspen board with a polyeurothane coating. As for the UTH set up I plan on a quarter inch thick tile with the UTH adhered to it with a slight rise to avoid pressure on the UTH and then seeling it down with a hot glue gun and attaching the probe directly to the tile itself.

Click to expand...

Sounds as if you have a good handle on things and attaching the sensor directly to the tile instead of just laying it there is a good idea. I attach my sensors also, it's amazing how the snakes move everything around.

Good luck!

Yeah I have a zoo med at the moment and it's worked great without any problems. Just when you suddenly see a group of people all in one area complaining about short circuit fires and such it makes you uneasy.

I think that One might have more problems with any UTH regardless of the brand if used without a thermostatic control to regulate the temp.
These things can really get hot if used improperly and I suspect a lot of failures could be attributed to excessive heat.
If I were you I think I'd keep that Zoo-med for awhile with the Hydrofarm and see how it works for you.

Can you put any pressure at all on the wiring casing on the UTH? I got the tile and UTH set up done but it rests on the black casing that's holding the wiring. I'm just wondering because if not i need to find a way to raise the height of the tile off the floor but also close them off to any of our snakes being able to get underneath it. I got the tiles larger than needed so I may just lay down some wood blocks on the edges of them to raise them but trying ot think of any other ideas as well. Unfortunately the little rubber raisers the UTH came with didnt put it up high enough to relieve the pressure on the wiring.