probe thermostats and ceramics

[instar]

Crikey!~ i dont know Alan, thats what I was thinking alright, cant work out why it should be a bad assumption though! Its a mystery why 100 watts less should work better thats for sure.

i think putting just a small amout of time (and electricity) into such a big power house makes it too hot for that short time making the temp vary a fair bit.

Just my observations and opinion.

Cheers, Alan.

P.s, i have the 250w here as a spare, if you find that you can get it to sit at a good temp then you can have this one.

[instar]

Thanks for the offer Al, ill keep it in mind, meanwhile ill see how it goes ....relativly steady so far! the humidity is more a problem for some reason, at the moment, its at 46% with the water directly under the ceramic, it should be higher, 50-55% dont know why its not?????

[herptrader]

You can never rely overly much on the markings on a thermostat. At best they will respond accurately to the temperature and the location of the probe. A thermometer, placed where you want to know the temperature is the only way to go. Better still, use a min/max thermeter and measure the range at the hot spot and cool end.

A thermeter gun is a really good way to check this out and they are a lot more affordable these days.

I don't think a little bit of temperature fluctuation is necessarily a bad thing as long as there is a good temperature gradient.

If you are trying to achive a stable temperature you may wish to consider using a dimmer, in addition to a thermostat, on your heat source (in this case a ceramic) and set the dimmer so it is on most of the time to achieve the desire temperature.

[instar]

Thanks Herptrader, Its had a stable gradient 32 hot end~ 24 cool end overnight, Seems to be ok with steady humidity now of 49c ~53% :wink: