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UTH being weird. Rheostat may be broken?

M

marcellajoleen

New member
Hey ya'll. I finally got a decent thermometer with a probe for my Ophelia's tank and last night I set it up. Her heat mat is reading a temp of 105. I know it's not good, so I cranked her heat mat all the way down to low. I use the zoo med rheostat pictured here to control her heat mat.

http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Laboratories-Repti-Temp-Rheostat/dp/B0002AQD0Y

I checked again this morning and it's still at 105. I thought maybe the rubber feet supporting the air flow had come off the bottom of her tank and trapped some heat, but they're in tact. Any ideas? I think the rheostat maybe crapped out on me finally.
 
First, I would verify the thermometer with a known temp- like your body temp. Is it a probed thermometer?

How long have you had the rheostat?

Unfortunately, ZooMed thermostats don't have a very reliable reputation, and it would not surprise me that the rheostats would be of similar quality.

If it is new, and has failed, you should be able to exchange it.

When starting with a new thermostat/rheostat UTH set up, start on the lowest setting and increase a degree at a time until you reach your desired temp, and give it hours to stabilize between each adjustment.

If you have to replace it (and it sounds like it has failed) Hydrofarm makes a reliable cheap thermostat that many people here use.
 
If you were using a thermostat, with a probe, before deciding the stat wasn't working, you would check the stat probe to make sure it was in place on the UTH. This is a classic symptom of the probe getting loose- and being out away from the UTH. The stat thinks it's cold, and keeps raising the temp, and you end up with temps over 100F.
 
It sounds like it could be, and I have seen quite a few people say their thermostat or rheostat gave up the ghost, so it's entirely possible. I'd start with verifying the temp reading you are getting is correct either by using your existing to to get a temp on something known (like you), or using another thermometer. If the temperature is correct, I'd replace the rheostat. If the new one works fine, the old one probably did go. If the new one is no better, you have a backup, and I'd look at replacing the heat mat.
 
The rheostat doesn't read the temp. All it does is reduce the electricity supplied to the device, which in turn lowers the temp. So as the room temp changes from season to season, you have to watch the temperature, because the rheostat is a "dumb" device which does not have a temperature setting, just a less or more setting.

The typpical placement of the thermometer probe is: UTH under the tank. Thermometer probe in the tank, directly over the UTH, in the center. Under any substrate.
 
Why replace the heat mat? It's doing its job! That wouldn't serve any porpose, unless you got a "rainforest" uth, which isn't warm enough.
 
Nanci said:
Why replace the heat mat? It's doing its job! That wouldn't serve any porpose, unless you got a "rainforest" uth, which isn't warm enough.
Click to expand...
If the thermometer is reading the correct temperature, and a new thermostat or rheostat STILL results in 105 temps, at that point I'd replace the heat mat.

I doubt it will get to that point though, most likely either the probe thermometer is reading the wrong temp, or the rheostat has given up the ghost and is no long regulating power to the mat. I just laid out all the options, since there's a slim chance.
 
If the thermometr is reading the correct temp, and a new thermostat or rheostat still results in 105 temps, the new thermostat or rheostat is DOA. A heat mat that gets hot is a perfectly functioning heat mat. If the temperature controller isn't controlling the temperature, its a problem with the controller.
 
marcellajoleen said:
I use this one right to monitor the temp

www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Digital-Terrarium-Thermometer/dp/B000MD3MFA

and the probe is right under her heat mat. I'm thinking that it's a problem with the rheostat not reading the temp correctly, but I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this, or the rheostats like the one I posted having malfunctions before I bought a new one.
Click to expand...

The probe needs to be IN the viv, on the glass, right above the UTH, not under it.
 
I don't know what you mean that the t-stat isn't reading the heat mat as a heat source.

Seems to me that the best thing to do next is to do some testing to try to figure out what pieces of equipment are working properly. Don't just test them in the set-up, but test them against known things such as your body temperature. That will at least tell you if your readings are even close.
 
marcellajoleen said:
sorry, I misspoke, it is in the correct placement.

I got a new thermostat, this guy here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018CLYNG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and it isn't reading my heat mat as a heat source! I'm going to try it again today, but I don't know what else could be the problem. The heat mat itself, maybe? The thermometer in the tank is still reading about 91 with the old rheostat on the lowest setting.
Click to expand...

Do you have the stat plugged into the wall, and the UTH plugged into the stat?
 
I had the same problem. The zoo-med heat mats are extremely sensitive. There's a very narrow range of adjustment you can do with them. We spent two weeks where it was pretty much totally on or totally off... After fighting with it, we just ordered a hydrofarm thermostat off amazon. Fighting with the rheostat wasn't worth the health of the snake.


Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk
 
LazyLemming said:
I had the same problem. The zoo-med heat mats are extremely sensitive. There's a very narrow range of adjustment you can do with them. We spent two weeks where it was pretty much totally on or totally off... After fighting with it, we just ordered a hydrofarm thermostat off amazon. Fighting with the rheostat wasn't worth the health of the snake.


Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm not understanding this. The heat mats have no adjustment, the thermostat / rheostat has the adjustment. I'm guessing you meant the rheostat?
 
Yup, the heat pad is plugged into the rheostat and the r-stat is plugged into the wall. When I got the new Zilla t-stat, it has a little light on it for power and heat source, and the heat source light was on and then wouldn't come back on (I'm assuming this means it didn't register the heat mat, as the internal temps started skyrocketing at this point) I'm going to try again tonight when I get home from classes, but if it keeps being finicky, I don't know what to do, especially since I think she's heading into a shed soon.,
 
I would return the zilla thing. I don't trust those "reptile" brands.

What kind of tank do you have that the wires don't let it close?



I've been using a simple lamp dimmer by Lutron. http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-TT-300NLH-WH-Credenza-Dimmer-White/dp/B0000DI241

It's been almost a year of no problems on 3 different tanks. It works exactly the same as the Zoo-med rheostat that you have, only it seems to do it better for 1/2 price, I can get my uth all the way down to 73 before it is in the "off" position.

If you can afford a nice thermostat though, you should just splurge. Many people say the best thermostats on the market are the Herpstats. The Hydrofarm is just the best in the $30-40 range.

I would avoid any Zilla, Zoo-med or Exo-Terra electronics. They're pretty much a china reseller for half their stuff.. for example: http://www.amazon.com/SODIAL-Digita...1394057638&sr=8-1&keywords=sodial+thermometer
Look familiar?

Also, if you're considering replacing your uth, might I suggest Ultratherm: http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads
 
I have a 15 gallon tank, but the lid is one I had to buy seperately at Petsmart, as I had gotten the tank from a friend and it didn't have a lid. The wire fits in the corners, but there's space when I close it and I'm concerned about her escaping. The lid is much like this one
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16624566&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

i have a zoomed heat pad, I'd always heard okay things about them. With the lamp dimmer, it doesn't get confusing without an exact temperature to set it to?
 
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