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thermostat woes

A

andyrea

New member
i'm so disappointed

i bought one of those ESU thermostats and it's appearing to be a total piece of crap. won't stay at any temperature consistently and will shoot or drop for no reason. i had no idea there was such a drastic range in quality. i'm worried about my little guy. any thermostat brand suggestions? i really can't do the 300$ ones but i can probably afford 100-200. are these only available online? i really don't know what to do in the meantime other than check every 15 min. i'm at school right now and it's totally stressing me out :uhoh:
 
I was wondering the same thing but I dont want to buy one for 100 bucks. I was told that it was better to get two one being digital so I'm still looking around for the best deal. Anxious to see what happens with this thread.
 
http://www.spyderrobotics.com

Makes the Herpstat, $110, which will be on sale the week of Thanksgiving for $10 off.

The Herpstat Night Drop is slightly fancier and has temp alarms you can set. $135, will be on sale for $10 off.

I'll be buying two...

There are two kinds of thermostats: on/off and proportional. The on/off are the cheap ones. They reach a temp, shut off, (and the UTH seems to get a couple degrees hotter) then when the temp drops, they turn on again. I see a 10 degree swing in temps on this style. Proportional increases/decreases the amount of power to the UTH, and keeps the temp steadier. It also tyically has a digital readout, and you set the temp you want and leave it. I'd say my Herpstat varies by no more than 1 degree either way.

Still, the on/off thermostats are pretty good once you find the perfect setting. Don't feel bad- I've been trying to get one of mine set and it took nearly 48 hours to even out.

Good luck...

Nanci
 
offtopic.gif
what do the blue and red stars next to profile names mean?
 
andyrea said:
i'm so disappointed

i bought one of those ESU thermostats and it's appearing to be a total piece of crap. won't stay at any temperature consistently and will shoot or drop for no reason. i had no idea there was such a drastic range in quality. i'm worried about my little guy. any thermostat brand suggestions? i really can't do the 300$ ones but i can probably afford 100-200. are these only available online? i really don't know what to do in the meantime other than check every 15 min. i'm at school right now and it's totally stressing me out :uhoh:
Click to expand...

The thermostat will not keep your UTH a constant temperature. It allows it to heat up to a max temp, then turns it off. The temp of the UTH is then gonna drop. Then when the temp reaches a lower max, the thermostat will turn the UTH on again.

You need to be concerned about the high max. You don't want it to get too hot. If your thermostat is anything like mine, I use the Zoo Med Repti Temp 500, you need to adjust the dial in tiny amounts.

I agree with Nanci, one of the thermostats she suggested would probably be much better. But, you have to work with what you have. Don't get frustrated.
 
yeah i figured....but it's going way higher than i have the max temp set at so it isn't really an issue with that
 
That was going to be my question. If it is way high, are you sure the probe is right on the glass over the mat?? (Had that problem myself last week with Choco, among other thermostat woes!)

If it isn't working, and your mat is getting higher than, let's say 90F, and you haven't fed the snake in the last 48 hours, I'd just unplug the mat. It's better to have a cool snake than to cook it.

While I was trying to get mine set, I thought it was in range Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning to find Zee luxuriating on his 119F UTH!!!!!!!!!! NICE!! And that was just a matter of getting it dialed in, not the probe being placed wrong. You may be better off starting low and raising it gradually, than going down. And do you have a max/min thermometer so you know the highest it's getting when you're not looking?

Nanci
 
Nanci said:
That was going to be my question. If it is way high, are you sure the probe is right on the glass over the mat?? (Had that problem myself last week with Choco, among other thermostat woes!)

If it isn't working, and your mat is getting higher than, let's say 90F, and you haven't fed the snake in the last 48 hours, I'd just unplug the mat. It's better to have a cool snake than to cook it.

While I was trying to get mine set, I thought it was in range Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning to find Zee luxuriating on his 119F UTH!!!!!!!!!! NICE!! And that was just a matter of getting it dialed in, not the probe being placed wrong. You may be better off starting low and raising it gradually, than going down. And do you have a max/min thermometer so you know the highest it's getting when you're not looking?

Nanci
Click to expand...

i have the probe on the glass over the mat and under the substrate...is this right?

oddly enough, it seems to be working for the moment so hopefully it will continue :). it was up for a while, now it's down and it seems to be sticking there.
i have a max/min thermometer but i feel like i'm not doing something right...the max always changes :confused: i had no idea everything would end up being this complicated! but it's so worth it i love my little guy
 
i have the probe on the glass over the mat and under the substrate...is this right?
Click to expand...

Perfect!!!

I would give it a couple of more days to settle down keeping your eye on what the maximum is.

i had no idea everything would end up being this complicated!
Click to expand...

Actually, that’s not complication you’re experiencing...but rather passion :)

Regards,
Steve
 
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