Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I made this post in the Corn Snake Forum and thought it came out very well, so I figured I'd post it in another forum or 2 since I believe it will be informative to some.

The cheapest and easiest rheostat you can find is a simple plug in light dimmer. All rheostats, whether made for animals or not, simply control the amount of electricity going to a device. In our case, more or less electricity going to a heating device = more or less heat generated. A rheostat allows for manual control of the electricity flow.

For 20$ Can, (I'll bet 10 usd), you can go to Home Depot and get a plug in light dimmer. Just plug your heatpad into the dimmer, and the dimmer into the wall. Use a (good, and preferably digital) thermometer right over the pad and continue adjusting the dimmer over the course of a few hours until your temps are right.

A thermostat, on the other hand, senses the temperature by itself and automatically adjusts the amount of electricity running to the heating device. Thermostats will allow you to pick a temperature and, using a probe connected to the thermostat and placed over the heatpad, will monitor the temp for you. (I always check with a digital thermometer since I don't trust the thermostats.)

Now, about thermostats. I hate the ESU Reptile Thermostat. It was recommended to me by someone on one of these forums, and I used it as part of an incubator. Within 3 weeks of use, it broke and my temp shot up to 110 degrees. I lost 20 leopard gecko eggs, about 1000$ worth of potential income and 20 little lives lost because its a cheap piece of ... pie.

I do like the ZooMed Repti-Therm (maybe its Repti-Temp) 500R. I've used several of these for years without a problem. However, the temperature indicator doesn't actually show degrees, but, rather, shades of color. So you'll need a digital thermometer to verify.

Hope this helps.
Joel
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2.3 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Ball Pythons
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Blair's Phase Gray Banded Kingsnake

As far as cheap rheostats, I purchase rheostats for about 4 bucks made for home installation and just connect them in line of the heat source. Very easy to do and I have yet to find a cheaper rheostat. Now one factor you didn't bring up is that you can spend 12 hours one day with a rheostat hooked up finding the right temperature and come back the next day and it be shot to he&*. With the rheostat your controlling/limiting the power to the device. SO...if your ambient room temperature fluctuates so will your "hotspot". If your temps drop in the room, expect the same with your "hotspot". This is because the rheostat will not adjust to the need for more power output automatically as a thermostat will. On the reverse side, if your room temp skyrockets for some reason(ac goes out) expect to overheat your animals since the rheostat will keep pushing in the power you had set at let's say....72degrees room temp. So, rheostats IMO are the bare minimal control device, and should be used as backups for a high quality thermostat. As far as thermostats go, you get what you pay for I guess. I won't advertise for anyone, but there's a few good thermostats out there, but your going to spend 100 bucks give or take. It is always money well spent though IMO. Well, that's enough out of me...good topic, take care!

Paul

so from one crappy thermo to another, and that makes you happy? that doesn't make a lot of sense...

if you want a strong grip on temps, get a great thermostat, period. you have already "wasted" $1000 on a thermo, and that strategy didn't work, ya know? spending $100 on a high quality piece only makes sense.

we have used LOTS of different brands and models, rheostats, "nice" rheostats, Helix (blown fuses!), ESU, Big Apple, Zoo Med (what good is a color indicator?), etc etc, but the best, easiest to use thermo that we have come across is the Ranco, which is offered by the Boaphile at his site.

check out the link to his site below. why give Jeff your business, instead of one of the copycats on the classifieds? because he busted his butt to do the work, make the investment, wire it all up, and make a great product, we should support that

and it is a MUCH better piece that the Zoo Med thing...
The Boaphile's Ranco Thermos

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

There are basically two types of thermostats that I see used in herpeticulture regularly. These are: Proportional and On/Off.
Proportional are like the Helix which regulates and changes the amount of voltage going to the heat source with the use of a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). This change of voltage in turn changes the amperage and resistance of the heat source, so the only time your heat source is actually off is when the temperature is satisfied. On/Off T'stats simply turn the heat source on or off depending on what the sensor is calling for. Also the Ranco is acually used for chillers, boilers, and other HVAC epuipment. That is why other people can sell them other than Jeff. Nothing against Jeff, but all he does is buy the Rancos and wire them up. Plus there are a few other controls out there that work just as good or better than the Ranco.

sure there are others. the Rancos work well, and reliably, and affordably. why buy from Jeffthe Boaphile?

i don't know, i guess you could spend your money lining Grainger's pockets instead. after all, you can go to Jeff's site, look at his pics, deduce his wiring, get the name of the thermo from the pic, and bank on his experience and reputation standing behind them and then run to the internet and find them cheap as possible. heck, just buy one from Jeff, sketch out everything you need, then return it to him, ask for a refund, even for the shipping!

in fact, that's a great idea. Jeff's a reptile guy and supports the community, but you're right, F him!

(that's sarcasm. support those that support you. THAT'S why)
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Very well put Robyn. I agree with you 100%.

Now for my 2 cents. I am an Electronics Engineer, and I design, build and install temperature control systems in large commercial and industrial sites for a living. Temp control pays my bills two fold, because I breed herps also. Both types of control (onoff and proportional) have their places in our hobby. I prefer proportional control i.e. helix, GCS reptiles, big apple herp, reptronics etc. Proportional control allows for a much tighter control. For example with a popular on/off thermostat called a snapstat to old timers in the business) I typically get 4 to 5 degrees of swing above and below my desired setpoint. with the proportional thermostats, that is much lower. sometimes as low as half a degree. And just to clear some things up the resistance of a heater never changes.

I have no affiliation with any of the companies that sell here on the boards, or advertise here. (however I did just buy 9 of the best digital thermometers from Robyn)

My collection as of right now uses helix controls for most of my colubrids, on/off control for my Red Eye Tree Frogs, and my Red Ear Sliders. Helix for the Ball Pythons, and I recently bought a 4 cage proportional controller from GCS reptiles that so far is knocking my socks off. It allows proportional control with night setback (based on a photocell) and has alarm features. This is for 4 cages. for about half of what I would pay for helix.

However I have not had enough time to form a definitive opinion on this controller. Only con I have about it is the fact that the led display flickers. but I wont go into why that happens here. This is a snake board not an electronics theory board lol.

I hope my experience helps. And I will answer any question thrown at me. Im here as Robyn says to "Help those that help me"
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Stupidity should be Painful!

i was a little fired up last night : )

regarding the thermos, you can set the diff at 1, and that keeps a pretty tight hold on temps. a proportional stat does it a bit different, but i have yet to meet a reliable one. perhaps there is an industrial "ranco" type proportional one out there that would fit this niche, but in the meantime, i think it is mega-foolish to trust your incubator to a cheap, rheostaty, thermo that may or may not last the season.

this guy above lost $1000 worth of eggs to a junk thermo. no small potatoes. we lost $15,000 worth of eggs, no small potatoes. i imagine someone else has lost more than that.

a reliable, industrial thermo for $100 from the Boaphile seems like chump change compared to the loss. and i would rather see folks give Jeff the chump change than Grainger or Copycat Carl on the classifieds
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

The Ranco that is being used is an industrial T'stat and as far as I know they don't make a proportional. Furthermore I was not saying that I would buy a Ranco from either Jeff or another reptile supplier. And I definitly wouldn't go to Graingers. But I can get Rancos or another type which in my opinion is better and has an added feature that the Ranco doesn't. I would also be paying half of what everyone in the classifieds charge so why would I buy from them. Also if somebody can't wire them up by just reading the schematics than they have no business selling them. I can see your point about the Copycats, but I had thought of using one before I even seen that Jeff used the Ranco, yet I still think that the brand I will use may be alittle better, not much though. I work in the HVAC industry so I also need to support the people who support me, ie. the supply houses. I was in no way trying to offend anyone just making a statement. Wiring them up is easy if you know how.
Also do you not change amperage and resistance(ohms) if you change voltage? What of Ohms Law? E
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I R

The resistance of heat tape is what causes it to heat up. It has the same resistance no matter what power is put into it. It may change a little as it heats up. So as you change the amperage into a heating product you change the voltage, or vs versa depending on how the thermostat controls power (by voltage regulation or current regulation).
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

>>so from one crappy thermo to another, and that makes you happy? that doesn't make a lot of sense...
>>
>>if you want a strong grip on temps, get a great thermostat, period. you have already "wasted" $1000 on a thermo, and that strategy didn't work, ya know? spending $100 on a high quality piece only makes sense.
>>
>>we have used LOTS of different brands and models, rheostats, "nice" rheostats, Helix (blown fuses!), ESU, Big Apple, Zoo Med (what good is a color indicator?), etc etc, but the best, easiest to use thermo that we have come across is the Ranco, which is offered by the Boaphile at his site.
>>
>>check out the link to his site below. why give Jeff your business, instead of one of the copycats on the classifieds? because he busted his butt to do the work, make the investment, wire it all up, and make a great product, we should support that
>>
>>and it is a MUCH better piece that the Zoo Med thing...
>>The Boaphile's Ranco Thermos
>>
>>-----
>>robyn@proexotics.com
>>
>>Pro Exotics Reptiles
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Rob