Stupid UTH

[GodzillaGecko]

Well its almost time for the rep expo and I got everything setup for the little bugger...Except I'm having issues with the UTH. First put it on it went over 100 degree's which is fine cause I was going to set up the slate tile but wanted to leave it on for 24 hours to make sure it was working. Now its reading 92 and not to long ago 89. I'm thinking its faulty. I even set the prob on the glass and it was only hitting 95-97 the highest.

Its a 40 gal breeder with a 40-50 gal UTH. So the size is correct. I just want some confirmation on if this thing is faulty. Its a zoo med.

there is no melting or any warping. it looks fine. and there is heat coming out the thing. but not sure if its worth bringing back or its because the thing stabilized.

 

[GeckoCrossing]

Sounds faulty to me. I have a 40-50G UTH on my 40G Breeder tank and it gets up to 127 on the glass above it. After adhering tile, grouting and sealing it, the temp is stable at 110 directly over the UTH. I set another piece of tile on top to reduce the temp if need be. With two pieces of tile on top, it stays around 96.

 

[GodzillaGecko]

Thanks for answering. I'll just bring this stupid thing back and get another. Just my luck when I have everything ready...issue comes up lol.

 

[katie_]

I find zoo med to be a pretty good UTH, I would just exchange it for a new one.

 

[meg1877]

Also try using a temp gun and not a probe. The guns give a more reliable reading

 

[Jaiden23]

It could be the tile actually. Some tiles have ridges under them, which causes air pockets that can really interfere with heat. We tried just placing slate tiles on the glass and ended up with alot of strange temperature problems. To fix it, we put a thin layer of sand under the tiles to help conduct the heat. It made a huge difference, our temperatures stabilized and we ended up with the gradient that we wanted. Of course we made sure that the leo would have minimal exposure to the sand, just to be safe.

We really thought our heatmat was faulty too, but after trying 3 different ones we finally realized what was going on with our tank.

 

[GodzillaGecko]

Thanks for all the advice. I put just a reptile carpet down and was getting a 90-93 reading but when it was placed on the glass I was only getting a 95 reading. It could just be the probe not reading it correctly. I'll try slate first and see how the temp changes. I was going to use the carpet just at first since I didn't want to much going on in the tank and didn't want to stress the leo out when I place him inside. (I had an iguana who freaked out and had to take out most things till he calmed down. 2 weeks later he let me put the stuff back). But I'll pick up slate first and see how that goes first. Hopefully its not faulty otherwise its an hour trip to petco to return it.

and yeah I should of got the infrared laser one but I just spent 200 bucks and didn't have enough to buy it. (I had to pay my cell phone bill I HATE BILLS!) lol I'll pick one up as soon as I can though.

 

[GodzillaGecko]

I double checked and it seems to be heating up. it was the carpet that was throwing it off cause it wasn't laying on the glass flat enough. I have some broken slate I threw down to check and its gotten pretty hot. To hot for a leo but at least I know the heat is spreading. I'll pick up new slate and fix things up. (I don't want to use this slate. TO many sharp edges on it.)

Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it