Reptile & Amphibian Forums

put a dimmer switch on them. Ive always used human heating pads but all the new ones have this auto shutoff. In order to bypass this I would like to put a dimmer switch on but there are two wires going in from the plug and 3 wires going out toward the pad. What is the third wire for? Has anyone done this?
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0.0.1 Northern BTS (Huffy)
1.1 Ball Pythons (Korban and Leeloo)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo)

Do you have a link to these? There woul have to be some mechanism to cause the auto stop in 2 hours.. If there is a timer on them and you install a dimmer is will slow the enternal clock and make it run longer than designed to..
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www.mgreptiles.com
CBB Herps and Heating Supplies

.................they have this feature? it's a SAFETY device,human heating pads are not designed to be on 24/7.have fun!

This feature was not put on there because the pads are going to catch fire, they were put on there because people were falling asleep on the pads and seriously burniong themselves. Get the facts

ken
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0.1 Albino Cal. King (Fokker)
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn (trouble)
0.1 Creamsicle Corn (Spot)
0.0.2 Anery (Thanks Jimmy)
1.2 Dogs(2 Boxers, Cookie and Joe, Lhasa Apso, George)
1.0 Betta
0.1 Wife
0.1 Kid

i didn't say they would catch fire,read my post.if they don't burn you the first two hours then why would it burn you later,unless the temp rises beyond the setting,it's a safety issue.some time ago i had a heating pad start to burn,i was home at the time and stopped a possible fire.go down to your local resale shop and pick up a used heating pad and take it apart and you'll be shocked on how mickey mouse there made.get ALL the facts.have fun!

I was thinking the same thing....
spend a little cash and get somthing designed for what you are doing....you are asking for trouble by trying to alter somthing like that.....if you still want to use it at least make sure the smoke detector has fresh batteries

I simply cannot believe the suggestion made here... use a timer to slow down the safety timer on a pad not made to run more than 2 hours? Why would companies or individuals express such dangerous advice knowing that it is completely against the intended use of a human heating pad.

Several years ago there was a post regarding a company who manufactures these pads and they indicated to use the pads on a 24/7 basis is asking for major problems. The pads are designed for temporary heating, not 365 days a year. This is expressly indicated in the literature that comes with these mats.

Mats designed for reptile use are not very expensive, I use the Dragon's Lair Heat Mats at Big Apple because they are double thick and can go inside a cage and they run at a safe heating levels but there are many units on the market such as the Cobra Heat Mats and Kane Heat Mats. I find the ones with that have the adhesive on the backs run too hot so I do not care for them. However, the price of twenty something dollars has to be worth more than risking your house and family.

Winston

o come on..you think the company that made the heating pad know's more than the guy wanting to rig it up to do somthing its not supposed to....LOL
my family is worth the extra couple bucks...

You like the Dragons Lair heat mat? I heard they are good, and I heard they suck. What animals/setup you use it with?

>>I simply cannot believe the suggestion made here... use a timer to slow down the safety timer on a pad not made to run more than 2 hours? Why would companies or individuals express such dangerous advice knowing that it is completely against the intended use of a human heating pad.
>>
>>Several years ago there was a post regarding a company who manufactures these pads and they indicated to use the pads on a 24/7 basis is asking for major problems. The pads are designed for temporary heating, not 365 days a year. This is expressly indicated in the literature that comes with these mats.
>>
>>Mats designed for reptile use are not very expensive, I use the Dragon's Lair Heat Mats at Big Apple because they are double thick and can go inside a cage and they run at a safe heating levels but there are many units on the market such as the Cobra Heat Mats and Kane Heat Mats. I find the ones with that have the adhesive on the backs run too hot so I do not care for them. However, the price of twenty something dollars has to be worth more than risking your house and family.
>>
>>Winston
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Tim W.
http://tsw.f2g.net

As far as people thinking the Dragon's Lair Heat Mats suck I guess I would say that a statement like that applies to almost every product in the industry. I say I like something like Zoo Med Repti-Bark and I get response like "are you kidding, that stuff sucks and is terrible for reptiles and I get "yeah, me too, I love it".

So, for me I have about 14 units running on my various reptile cages. They work fine for my lizards and snakes. Besides, they are just like the Cobra Heat Mats but better priced. If you look at the label both brands are made in Scottland.

Additionally, I have never heard of anyone having problems with either of these brands but I have heard problems with a couple other brands which I will not mention here.

Winston