Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, just picked a rheostat for the first time today. I hooked it up to one of my heat pads (a 3 setting one) and with the pad on setting one, I put the rheostat at about half power. The temps actually went up. Does the rheo "override" the level set on my pad, ie if the rheos in the middle, will my pad be on its second level?
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Bear with me here, because I don't know the exact heat pad you have, but here we go:

Generally, the 3-setting controller is like a dimmer with 3 set resistor values instead of a single variable resistor. Hooking that in-line with another dimmer can give weird results. You shouldn't do it that way.

Better to hook the heater into a thermostat with a mechanical relay, like those analog thermostats made by A-Life (the $30 ones.) Then that provides overtemp protection but still allows for the settings on the heat pad controller to work.

Or, cut off the 3-position controller and wire the heat pad only into another dimmer.

I would use sa different dimmer before I woudl use an Alife thermostat.. Those tstats are basically junk
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www.MGReptiles.com
Professional Reptile Heating Supplies

I've had good luck with those A-Life units when used as a high-limit cutoff (meaning it isn't the main controller.)