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R-Zilla 1000 watt thermostat issues

T

thelegendarystm

New member
Hey all. So we're planning to get our baby corn snake (looks like a nice amel, possibly reverse okeetee), on Sunday. Today we decided to turn on all our heat elements and things to make sure everything is working properly. We're using a ZooMed 10-20 gallon heat mat in our 10 gallon tank, hooked into an R-Zilla 1000 watt thermostat to control the heat output. We have the thermostat prob resting on the glass on top of the heat mat. We set the thermostat for 85 degrees, since we figured that way the top of the substrate should stay at about 80, which seems good. The problem is that with the thermostat set at 85, the temperature on the warm side spiked up to 100! When we turned the thermostat down to 80, the temperature is reading at about 85. Is it common for such a huge difference between the set thermostat temperature and the actual temperature? Has anyone else used this thermostat and maybe has a suggestion? Thanks very much!
 
How are you measuring the temps, and where, and what kind of setting does the thermostat have, a dial with numbers?
 
We're using two digital thermometers with probes, one on each side of the tank. The probes are sitting on the glass under the substrate, as I remember reading on here that the temperature should be taken at the hottest point the snake can possibly reach. The thermostat does have a dial with numbers, but the numbers don't seem to correspond very well to the actual temps that are being reached. We just came home and checked again, and the temp was 90 degrees, even though the thermostat was only set to about 82. This thing's all over the map :/

Does anyone have suggestions for a better thermostat, in case we end up taking this one back? What kinds/brands do you guys use, and where did you get them? I was unable to find this kind of thermostat at any of the local stores (Sears, Home Depot, Radio Shack, etc.) We only bought this Petco one because it was the only one we could find, and so far I'm not happy with it.
 
I have a Ranco thermostat and am pleased. Thermostats turn on and off based on the temps you set. As they turn back on temps will be higher and when it shuts off it gets cooler. Mine has a range anywhere from 80-87 degrees at the hottest, but thats still a broad range. You may want to secure the probe don with a dab of silicone letting it try before putting your snake back in. That way it stays put and doesn't overheat keeping more stable temps.
 
We've got the probes for both the digital thermometers AND the thermostat stuck down with the included suction cups, so they're not moving anywhere. It's good to see that a large range is fairly normal with these things, we just were surprised at how much of a difference there appeared to be between the temperature reading in the tank and the temperature setting on the dial on the thermostat. We've got it set to just about 80 on the dial, and it seems to get to about 85 at the high end now, which is what we want.

If we leave it where it is right now it seems like it'll be alright, we just wanted to make sure we didn't have a faulty thermostat or anything.
 
As far as I'm concerned, on/off thermostats will drive you insane, once you've experienced the luxury of a proportional that you can just set and it just supplies that temp, accurately. I have all my racks and glass vivs on Herpstat NDs, except for one which has a Herpstat. But I have a snake who is going to visit for a couple weeks and just don't have one extra space for her, so I set up a ten gallon with a retired BAH (Big Apple Herp) thermostat, which is an on/off type. I have been fighting with that thing since Monday, moving it up a degree, coming home, the high temp was 88, down a degree, seeing it let the high temp get down to 78 or something...It's driving me crazy and reminding me why forking out the $125 for a Herpstat ND is so worth it. (Herpstat has a sale right around Thanksgiving every year!) Ok, I just checked the Herpstat (basic model) in my bedroom controlling two identical ten gallons. Max temp was 84.7. min temp 83.8. It's set at 84F. That's pretty tight control. Ok, so I checked the over/under stack of ten gallons in the living room, right by the portable AC. 84.6 high, 84.2 low. (The thermometer and thermostat may not always match, and you can change the Herpstat to match your thermometer, but I believe the $100 thermostat is more accurate than the $20 thermometer. I have a little temp gun to spot check, too).

So anyway, I believe that the dial of the on/off thermostat isn't accurately matched to the real temp, which is pretty much expected. But as long as you have a decent thermometer you can dial in the thermostat to the temp you want, ignoring the degrees on the dial, understanding that by the nature of how they work, on/off thermostats allow a wider temp swing than proportional thermostats. As long as you control the temp by the maximum the UTH is allowed to reach, a temp swing of several degrees isn't harmful to cornsnakes. It just drives some owners crazy!!
 
Hey, thanks so much for all the help, guys. We really appreciate it. Yeah, we'll probably end up forking over the money for a proportional thermostat once finances are better, but it's good to know this one isn't broken. Right now, the thermostat is set at like 83, and the temp is reading 87-90. I know around 85 is good for corn snakes, but will a high temp of 90 hurt them? Is that too hot? I don't really want to turn the thermostat down, because this is the temp on the very bottom of the tank, under the substrate, and I don't want the top of the substrate to get too cool. Will a temp of 90 degrees burn our snake?
 
You should go by the temp on the UTH, not the top of the substrate. I'd aim for 80-84 for the summer.
 
I have the same thermostat. I had problems with the temperature difference, the problem being that I, like you, were using the suction cup to anchor the thermostat probe to the glass.

What I did was go out and buy some of that blue poster putty. I was able to get both my thermostat probe & the probe to my dual zone thermometer stuck right to the glass above the UTH. Now both temperatures agree, and the probes are RIGHT ON the glass, not just above it.

Cheap fix...it'll cost you all of $2.

Hey, you're from Dover, NH! No way! I live right near you then!
 
So, are you puttying the wires to the glass and letting the probes just rest there or are you puttying the probes directly to the glass, forming basically a putty shell around the probe itself?
 
You should not cover the actual metal end of the probe with whatever you are using to secure it, just attach the base of the probe and the wire.
 
danielle said:
I have a Ranco thermostat and am pleased. Thermostats turn on and off based on the temps you set. As they turn back on temps will be higher and when it shuts off it gets cooler. Mine has a range anywhere from 80-87 degrees at the hottest, but thats still a broad range. You may want to secure the probe don with a dab of silicone letting it try before putting your snake back in. That way it stays put and doesn't overheat keeping more stable temps.
Click to expand...

I have Rancos too and really like them. They're about $60 if you get them from a heating/AC supplier rather than the $80+ I've seen on some reptile supply sites.
 
thelegendarystm said:
So, are you puttying the wires to the glass and letting the probes just rest there or are you puttying the probes directly to the glass, forming basically a putty shell around the probe itself?
Click to expand...


I put little dabs of putty and anchor the wires down, then a slightly bigger dab of putty that I mush the probe into. The probe for the zilla thermostat is a big plasticy type deal, no metal bits exposed.

I live in Barrington, NH, by the way. Almost missed your post on the last page!

Check out the pics in my thread here...this is from when I was setting up the viv after cleaning:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81574&highlight=colonel+slithers&page=4
 
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