Rack system temp question.

[del9800]

Good day all,

I will explain set up and then ask question.

*4 level C-serpents V-15/V-18 rack
*3in 10w belly heat flex watt
*1st Herpstat 1-probe taped on flexwatt directly
*2nd Herpstat -probe inside empty tub taped to hot spot for accurate hot spot temp.
*Temp gun
*new substrate Aspen Sani-chips; old substrate Aspen shavings

Alright now for the question... Sorry I dont know how to explaining it without being complicated.

I am confused about hot spot temp. I have set up my second t-stat taped inside an empty tub to read hot spot surface. Since I have done this my hot spot has hit the correct temp where I should be for my hognose snakes 90 degrees (92 at most). Now after i switched over to sani chips, the substrate has actually stayed in place over hot spot without bunching up like aspen shavings. So when I did have aspen shaving I would use my temp gun to get reading of each tub and got same temp as my t-stat. Now that I have made the switch to sani chips I have used temp gun to read hot spot surface under substrate and have gotten temps of 96 degrees. So at this point i decided to to ad substrate(s-chips) over probe to compare reading and it is accurate 96 degrees. Am I doing something wrong? Should I bring down t-stat to get a 90 degree hot spot with substrate over probe or should i remove substrate and get reading from that? And just to be clear the t-stat inside tube is not connected to my flex watt. I'm using a separate herpstat to control temps. Once again sorry for my explanation.

Thanks,
Dave

[del9800]

I am using one of the herpstats just to get a good reading of hotspot and not to control heat. So easy way on putting it is, do i get reading with substrate on probe or without substrate. I am getting a +/-5 degree difference when I add the sani chips over probe. So it seems like tubs are getting warmer with substrate over hotspot area.

[Albert Clark]

Hey del, I have the c serpent v70 racks and what Chris told me was to not place the probe inside the tub bc you will burn out the heat tape !!! When using a rack system I don't think you need to worry about a "hot" spot like a vision tank. Racks are different and they usually are back heat or belly heat models. The belly heat is recessed and I really don't think a hot spot is called for in the rack system. The other thing is to make sure you don't have the tape over the probe bc that will give you inaccurate readings to the tstat. Tape the probe wire to the heat tape but absolutely don't cover the probe with tape. Good luck. Actually, tape the wire to the surrounding structure of the rack but let the probe extend over the heat tape. That way the probe is not covered or restricted.