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Zilla Temperature Controller Not Working, am I the Only One?

RoseRed

RoseRed

New member
I have an UTH and I tried plugging it in to my Zilla temperature controller I had bought off of Amazon, and after waiting a few hours I noticed that the UTH was cold. I knew that that meant two things, either the UTH was broken or the controller was. Well after plugging the UTH into an outlet directly, it worked fine. I am wondering if anyone else has had a Zilla temperature controller not work? Also, what brand do you guys suggest I buy for a temperature controller?

Thanks for the help ^^
 
There are some things about the setup which might cause this to happen. We could double-check those for you before you send it back for a refund? What temp did you have the Zilla set to and where was the Zilla probe in relation to the UTH?
 
What temperature did the heatmat get to with the controller installed, measured with a digital or infrared thermometer? It may have felt cool because the thermostat registered the temperature as within range
 
Is the Zilla controller linear or is it on/off?

You might have just checked it on the off cycle? I think I have a zilla (forget brand but cheap pet store kind) and it's an on/off and has a red LED that says when the UTH is ON.
 
The UTH is under the tank and the probe is above the UTH but inside the tank. This is what the probe looks like, I have not seen one that looked like this
Slide1.jpg

Also, the tank temp is around 80 (only 1 or 2 degrees off) and I set the UTH to 85, I have no idea about cycles though.
 
Are you measuring the temp on the floor surface, right next to the probe? And using a digital or infra-red thermometer?

Bit difficult to tell from the photo, but I take it that the probe is resting on the floor surface where the UTH is? (If not, then that's how it should be).
 
How much are those? I don't have a lot of money right now. I took the probe out to get a better picture of it (I turned the controller and UTH off before) because I thought it looked odd.
 
OK if you're using a cardboard strip or plastic dial-type thermometer, these tend not to be accurate. It's best to have an accurate one if you can save the money for one. Digital thermometers are available online.

Also, you need to be measuring the floor surface temp, where the probe is. Is that where you're getting the temp reading? We still need to try and work out why the stat doesn't appear to be switching the UTH on for you. The probe looks fine. It's where it's placed which will determine when it switches the UTH on/off - is it flat on the tank floor when it's set up?
 
Sorry for the late reply, yes it is laying flat and is in the middle of the UTH. I just bought a digital thermometer off of Amazon yesterday.
 
Sounds good. As a control, take the surface temp of the UTH when it's off. That'll make sure you notice even a slight increase in temp.

Then plug in and switch on the UTH + thermostat (just to cover basics for future readers: the stat plugs into the mains, the UTH plugs into the socket on the stat, the stat probe is placed as you already had it on the floor of the tank over the UTH), and set the stat to something that the room is unlikely to naturally reach. I'd go for 105, which is within the Zilla's range - according to the manufacturer, it has an automatic safety cut-off at 110 (http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/specialty-equipment/temperature-controller.htm).

If that doesn't cause the UTH to come on (measure it with the digital thermometer next to the stat probe, rather than relying on touch), then turn the stat up to its maximum setting for 20 minutes. You've already established that the UTH works without the stat, so if the thermometer still reads the original temp with the UTH off, then I think the stat is faulty and needs to be returned for replacement.
 
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