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Under tank heater and Thermostat help

C

Cyntax

New member
Hello,

I've been running an Exoterra 8"x8" 8watt undertank heater for the last 3 weeks and have been able to maintain the temp at 85F by adjusting how much aspen I put in the tank. I grew tired of doing it this way so I purchased the Herp Power Proportional Thermostat ( LINK ).

Now the problem is that I have set the thermostat at 85F but my temp gauge is telling me that the controller is keeping the tank at 80F. And the thermostat seems to constantly be on. Its almost as if now the UTH can't maintain the temp.

Now it says in the instructions that the thermostat works best with a heater 20 watts or more. But a 20watt heater would cover almost the entire base of my tank (its a 15gallon, 24x12x12).

Has anyone run into this problem before? Any suggestions?
 
Well, what I would do is just turn up your herp power thermostat till the temp gauge shows the temp you want. Thats what I had to do. And make sure that the probe is 8 to 10 inches from the heat source. You dont go by the thermostat to know what the temp is....you go by the thermometer. If you have to turn the thermostat up to 92 degrees to get the thermometer to read 85 degrees, then thats what you do. I have a herp power thermostat, and thats what I did. What you have to do is hook the thermostat up to the heat source, turn the thermostat up all the way, wait till the thermometer reads the temp that you want, and then turn down the thermostat just until the red light goes out. It doesnt matter if your thermostat reads 92 degrees, as long as it is the correct temp inside the tank when you look at the thermometer.
 
There are a lot of times when the red light will be on constantly. It doesnt mean anything bad. Just turn up the thermostat all the way till the temp reaches where u want it...and then turn down the thermostat dial to where the red light JUST goes out. Then you will be able to maintain the temp on the thermometer
 
Well firstly, a proportional thermostat works by regulating the amount of electricity going to the heater. Unlike other thermostats which turn the heater off and on to maintain a temp, the proportional thermostats stay on all the time. They actually tend to maintain a more consistent temperature than the other kinds. Also, you want the thermometer to be reading the temperature of the substrate, not the ambient air temp. If you keep turning up the temp until the ambient air temp is up to 85, you might burn your snake, especially if he's a burrower. Hope that helps.
 
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