View Full Version : Rheostat - A How to. Warning Lots of Pics
We decided we needed a few more rheostats and the local petstores sell them for $22 or more. So off to Canadian Tire for the parts. We spent about $9 + tax on the parts, though we used a couple spare power cables that were laying about. If we didn't have them we would have spent an extra $2 to buy a cheap extension cable and hacked one of the ends off, cheaper then buying the wire and plug. katey did the building, I took pictures and made a general nuicence of my self.
Step 1 Assemble the parts needed.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat1.jpg
Here you see the parts needed; electrical box, jack, dimmer switch, power cord and front cover plate.
Step 2 Prepare the cord
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat2.jpg
Here you see we've hacked the end off the cable and thread it through a hole we punched in the electrical box (the box has knock outs for running the cord). You don't have to tie a knot in the cord, but it stops any shorts from happening should the cord be yanked hard enough to dislodge the leads. After threading the cable through you can strip off the leads. we cut off a little extra to be used for internal wiring.
Step 3 Attach the dimmer and ground to the jack.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat3.jpg
Here we've attached the ground from the dimmer's ground wire (green) and the power cord ground wire (green) to the ground screw on the jack (green).
Step 4 Attach the hot and neutral wires.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat4.jpg
Here we've attached the hot and neutral wires to the dimmer and jack respectively. It doesn't matter which one gets the hot and which one gets the neutral as the amount of current is controled by the dimmer, AC doesn't care about direction. In this image we've also compleated the connection by connecting the dimmer to the jack.
Step 5 Insulate all exposed wire.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat5.jpg
Here we've added some tape to the exposed wire as we don't want a short and an electrical fire. Aparrently you can get some fancy plastic thingys but black electrical tape will do too.
Step 6 Put the dimmer and jack in the box.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat6.jpg
Here we've put the dimmer and jack in the box and tightened the screws down.
Step 7 Attach the face plate and plastic knob.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat7.jpg
I think the title says it all. Careful not to over tighten or you can crack the face plate.
Step 8 Mount in a convienent place.
http://snakes.geekgrrl.ca/snakes/rheostat8.jpg
You don't have to mount it to the shelf unit like we did, you can leave it unmounted pretty much anywhere. This is just conveinent for us.
Shane Tesser
01-08-03, 05:12 AM
Wow!!! What a terrific thread Lisa, thanks for sharing! :D For Legal reasons I have to say however that any type of electrical work should be done by an expert. We at ssnakess.com don't for obvious reason's want to see anyone get hurt! If you don't know how to wire electrical products, arm yourself with someone who does. Never do any electrical work live (obviously), and make sure you know and recognise what wires do what. As lisa stated, the green is typically your ground wire, or it may be a single or stranded copper wire without any protected coating on it, the white is neutral, and the black is your hot. This is standard for 110-120v a/c type circuits with C.S.A. ratings....it may not however be standard for products produced off shore, so please be 100% in your identification :D But again, thanks for your time and effort with this post Lisa, well done ;)
asphyxia
01-08-03, 07:02 AM
Well Done and Thank You, I will print it out for future referance
Regards
Brian
Oh on a further note to Shanes post, test the rheostat with a regular incandesant lamp to see where the power picks up and drops off (some dimmers start high and go low and others vice versa). You don't wanna cook your herps thinking you've got them on low power.
Grant vg
01-08-03, 05:23 PM
Thats a great post lisa!
Thanks very much. :D
BoidKeeper
01-08-03, 08:07 PM
Very cool post! I use those same dimmers directly on zoomed and other brand UTHs.
Cheers,
Trevor
Great post Lisa, I am going to be doing this myself soon so this will really help, thank you!!!
awesome post .. I did the sme but never though of puttin two pluds with the dimmer .. lol its simple and convinient ..
BTW AWESOME POST!
Thanx so much
Dom
Thanks folks, but as I said, katey did all the work, I just took the photos. We put the plug thing so we can control 2 similarly sized tanks, and so the wiring is neater. also it allows us to change what tanks are being controlled.
snakedude_03
01-08-03, 11:00 PM
i was gonna do something like that.. but got too lazy.. lol..
A couple of people have expressed interest in my building rheostats for them. Because of possible legal ramifications I would be hesitant to do this, however if enough people are interested I would be glad to run a quick class and demo of assembling one at the reptile expo. If enough people email Jeff and ask nice he may let us use a small corner of the SSNAKESS table for the class/demo.
You would supply your own parts based on our listing and I would build a sample unit along with you.
If people are interested drop me a message so i have an idea how much intrest there is.
XxRachxX
01-10-03, 10:59 AM
EH! this is all confusing to me!! well wiring is different over here...so......yeah! time to call dad!
at least i know what the finished product will look like! looking very smart
sSNAKESs.com
01-11-03, 12:07 PM
Katey, unfortunatly if you have been to the shows (which you have) you should remember that our 2 tables are CRAMMED with stuff!! It is a great idea, but.. liablilities also come into play, maybe you should email Grant C and tell him your idea, he could probably get you a table. pcpcmail@rogers.com
asphyxia
01-12-03, 11:39 AM
Hi Lisa,
Just finished my Rheostat, using your. I needed it to adjust the heating in my BP new cage...It was a snap once I had all the parts it only took about 15 minutes
Thanks Again
Brian
Originally posted by asphyxia
Hi Lisa,
Just finished my Rheostat, using your. I needed it to adjust the heating in my BP new cage...It was a snap once I had all the parts it only took about 15 minutes
Thanks Again
Brian
Glad you were able to use it. I find you save about $10 off a store bought design.
Clubkidcarlos
01-30-03, 03:26 PM
Great idea and write up !!!
Loved it !! very detailed and informative !
I bought all components except for the cord and payed $8 bucks at home depot ! --- One of my questions though was what about the other terminal screws on the jack,.. would there be power to both outlets ?
Found out that the other set ,.. does'nt matter top or bottom,.. is when running more jacks in series ,.. like in a house. The metal box itself does not need grounding as the GREEN wire you connected from the CORD runs into the GROUND of the outlet you plug into.
Anole Guy
02-15-03, 11:21 PM
What is a rheostats?What is it used for?Thanks.
Clubkidcarlos
02-16-03, 09:39 AM
A Rheostat is a cool little contraption that will allow the user to vary the amount of heat given of by a HEAT DEVICE such as a heat lamp, heat pad, or heat tape. They are available in many pet shops. A usefull tool when it comes to attempting to get any heat source to the right temp for your reptile or amphibian.
A device like this is a NECESSITY with HEAT TAPE since this product continues to heat up with nothing to stop it's temperature assent.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1382pg13a.jpg
There are some pics floating around here of HEAT TAPE that has burned through , and forshadowed the coming of burned cage material and most likely house fire and lose of repltiles. :eek:
SEEN HERE--->
www.arbreptiles.com/cages/flexburn.html (http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/flexburn.html)
Lisa's way uses a dimmer knob as the means of adjusting the amount of "juice" given to the heat source plugged into it.
Anole Guy
02-16-03, 01:09 PM
So more less i can ajust the tempiture of my Uv light and how much heat it will give off?It is a red light bulb.Thanks.
Clubkidcarlos
02-17-03, 08:49 AM
Here is a pic showing a typical rheostat available at many pet stores :
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/138213.jpg
( cost $15.00 - $19.00 u.s.)
To fine tune your home-made rheostat I would first test it by monitoring the temp when the dial is turned all the way up,. .mid point, and turned down. Make note of the difference in temps, and even make small marks on the dial so you can remember preferred settings,...................... Pre-testing is the best route to make sure you have the temps you want.
eclypse_boy
02-17-03, 01:16 PM
Lisa and Katey I'm going to the hardware store today and I'm making a few. I've bought a rheostat for like $25 and I need a few more. When I say I love this site man do I mean it. Thanx you two. The more money you two save me the more snakes I can get.:D
Glad it could help more people. Just a side note, it won't work with florescent lights.
Big Mike
02-19-03, 11:58 AM
I just made one too. Thanks for the great instructions.
Alicewave
03-17-03, 09:18 AM
You can also buy a "Rheostat" like the ones in pet store at home depot for about half the price. They look almost the same except they are white with no reptile graphics on em.
jadegrasse
03-17-03, 09:50 AM
A diode in series at $0.20 will also work well for some applications. They reduce the current flowing to the heating element by half and are tiny. One thing to remeber about the reostat is that they don't control the heat but only control the amount of electricity going to the element. Sounds like the same but if the tank gets external heat from the sun or the heater gets turned up in the room then the element will give off the same amount of power to the element.
Alain
Originally posted by Anole Guy
So more less i can ajust the tempiture of my Uv light and how much heat it will give off?It is a red light bulb.Thanks.
It all depends on if you're using a flurecent bulb or not. flurecents can NOT be used with a rheostat.
Burmies
03-18-03, 09:03 PM
That is very impressive, I might have to try it sometime.
Burmies
jwsporty
03-20-03, 07:25 AM
Hey Lisa,
Great article but I would like to point out two matters for concern.
1. You should never knot a cord going into a utility box. The mechanical clamp down is there for a reason and if secured properly will do the intended job.
2. The use of electrical tape only to secure connections.
You make mention of using plastic caps but electrical tape will do.
This is a dangerous practice. Even though in this circuit the only exposed wire is the ground wire, it should still be capped using a marrette of the proper size (normally yellow or orange). The Marrette provides a mechanical clamp-down on the connnection.
Electrical tape wrapped around a twisted set of wires can and does loosen in time which in turn can create problems with grounding and shorting. A twisted pair of wires and some electrical tape discovered in household wiring (which is essentially what you are doing) would fail an electrical inspection.
It is better to twist wires together, install a marrette and then wrap the marrette with the electrical tape. You may never run into a problem, but 110 volts running through your body is not pleasant.
I would also screw the ground wire to the utility box first, then with the remaining pigtail attach to your other ground wire and then push the ground wire to the back of the utility box. This simply adds a little extra protection.
It is better to be safe than sorry..
HEVYCHEVY427
03-27-03, 06:38 PM
Thank you Thank you Thank you I would not have thought of this!
I am having a man at work put one of these together for me, and it will save me a lot of money.
jathoma
11-28-03, 11:10 AM
ok, I just have one question about the pics....
Where the heck did the blue wire come from?? It's only shown in the later pics, not the initial ones...
Is my mind playing tricks on me again?
:confused:
jathoma
11-28-03, 11:17 AM
I saw this at Home Depot...
Would this work just as well?
jathoma
11-28-03, 11:26 AM
Sorry, previous link didn't work...
http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/162668_3.jpg
Originally posted by Lisa
Here we've put the dimmer and jack in the box and tightened the screws down.
Haha, jack in the box.
Originally posted by jathoma
Sorry, previous link didn't work...
http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/162668_3.jpg
It may work. what it the wattage?
Originally posted by jathoma
ok, I just have one question about the pics....
Where the heck did the blue wire come from?? It's only shown in the later pics, not the initial ones...
Is my mind playing tricks on me again?
:confused:
we made two at the same time and i was taking pics from both, one cord had a blue wire in it, one didn't.
jathoma
12-02-03, 06:11 AM
Originally posted by Lisa
It may work. what it the wattage?
300wt per the ad...
lakeridgekennel
12-02-03, 07:32 PM
Looks great!!
One problem you use electrical tape NOT a good idea.
It is an unreliable joint and can over heat and worse cause a fire. It's unsafe and a electrical inspector wil have a fit and fail your electrical certificate. Go to home depot and buy wire nuts for pennys a piece. They will save money and time in the long run and will not fail and could save your herps.
Wizer69er
02-16-04, 05:38 PM
Thanks Lisa i put one together in no time with the great instructions you have posted and it works great.
snakefreak007
05-06-04, 02:17 PM
Excellent step-by-step instructions - simple enough for even the most electrically inept. Thanks a bunch.
PJ
YummyCdnMale
05-12-04, 10:17 PM
Great Job Lisa Now i just lost some business at the store!!!... Nah you did it right and for people that take the time have better results! You don't have to be an Electrical expert your local large hardware home depot eyc has books for about 20$ that perfectly illustrates these things. . And for the job well done your reptile now ate for free this month with your savings!!! Job well done!
smeagel
05-13-04, 07:04 AM
does this unit automaticlly adjust the heat padas, if so how do you hook up a thermostate to it?
daver676
05-13-04, 07:36 AM
No, the unit must be manually adjusted. The idea is that the rheostat adjusts the amout of power given to the heat pads. This allows you much finer adjustment of heat. I assume you could hook a thermostat through this unit. The great thing about the THERMOSTAT is that it will automatically regulate the temp of the heat pad (or wherever else you put it's temperature probe). I also assume in some cases, if you already have a thermostat to regulate temps, then you wouldn't even need a rheosstat. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong with this.
smeagel
05-13-04, 07:47 AM
does anyone know where i could get a thermostate to hook up to my heat pads, and how to hook it up?
proud2bcanadian
07-15-04, 08:27 PM
I'm just starting on mine right now. This is great! Thanks a ton Lisa!!!!
Jake_the_Snake
03-04-05, 04:07 PM
Hi All
Can someone explain to me what the 1.1 and the 2.2 is in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.2 Coastals 2.3 Jungles
1.3 West Papuan 1.0 Bred'ls
1.1 Yellow condas 1.1 Sebea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks
clint545
03-04-05, 04:14 PM
Jake the 1st # is male
2nd # is female
and a 3rd # is unsexed
So take the 2.2 Coastal, 2 males and 2 females:)
latazyo
07-13-05, 01:16 PM
too bad the pics arent up
too bad the pics arent up
I wonder if it would be possible to get them back up again.
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