Thermostats Failing

[Fantazmic]

Hi everyone
I have seen so many threads lately about thermostats failing

one person had one cause their heat mat to catch on fire and their snake was in thick clouds of smoke...not to mention the danger of fire...and then there are the people who have lost their snakes due to overheating.

Is there anything that can be done to prevent this? Should you automatically replace the thermostat after a certain period of time....or are certain brands a no no ?

Is there anything that can be done with the setup of the enclosure to avoid 'cooking' your snake if the thermostat malfunctions?

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on this. It would be nice to know if thermostat failure is an 'avoidable' accident

Elizabeth

 

[Wally]

Hi Elizabeth,

As stated in a previous thread I've had a few fail on me. Luckily this just meant that they no longer operated. I'm not an electrician so I'll refrain from commenting on what steps need to be in place to prevent a disaster.

As I have already stated, Microclimate is not a preferred brand of mine. Setting up a small enclosure such as a click clack to be disaster proof is somewhat problematic due to the size. However a larger enclosure is a bit easier. As long as you're not running excessive amounts of heat sources in the tank and it's large enough, a thermo going balistic and cooking your snakes is unlikely. My tanks are more or less set up that the bulbs could be running at full strength all day and not be a problem.

 

[user 23122]

i think you will find there has been a lot of threads on tis topic lately mayb have a search and read. The general opinion seems that using a lower wattage heat source with or without a thermostat is the safest option.

 

[TigerCoastal]

Hi Elizabeth
i have been thinking about the same kind of thing lately, had some good info put forward in this thread, http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-discussion-42/thermostat-setups-145147/ , and have put it to use in my current enclosures until i can convert them the way that i want to.

Basically use a wattage of heating that can get to the required temp and slightly over if the thermostat fails, and ensure that your snake still has a cool area to escape to. The 2 main methods of this put forward in the thread were heat tiles/basking light area as the only heat source with the rest of the enclosure ambient, or seperating the enclosure into 2-3 area's with i heated, one slightly above ambient and one ambient temp.

 

[JAS101]

atm i am using ceramic heat emitters to heat my enclosures , but i will have my new enclosures very soon and they will be heated via a heat mat . that way if the heat mat thermostat fails it wont heat the whole enclosure [ like the ceramic heat emitters would] + i have a smoke alarm in my rep room allready .

 

[J-A-X]

So what are you going to use Kenshin, radiant panels, downlights or cords ?

 

[bigi]

to prevent them from overheating you could always place a second standard on/off thermostat on the enclosure. This works by connecting the main thermostat through the standard one but have the standard one set at a couple degrees higher. If the main thermostat fails the standard one kicks in and switches the power off at the set temp.

 

[LiasisKing]

not trying to boil up a whole other kettle of fish (coz i really hate the smell) but that is why i dont use thermostats.
i have done some experimentation (which i do every time i get a new enclosure) to find the minimum wattage which will get to the right temperature, then just plug it in

but like i said, i dont want to boil up another kettle of fish

 

[Fantazmic]

to prevent them from overheating you could always place a second standard on/off thermostat on the enclosure. This works by connecting the main thermostat through the standard one but have the standard one set at a couple degrees higher. If the main thermostat fails the standard one kicks in and switches the power off at the set temp.

this sounds good but how do you do it ?

 

[Fantazmic]

thanks guys for your responses
i think i just have to hope nothing goes wrong at the moment as they are in click clacks however when they are in big encloses i should be able to rig something up that will be safer. I am going to get hubby to read the thread on the weekend and we will let you know what we think. Bigi your idea sounds good but how do you rig it up ?

Elizabeth