Rack Thermostat

Can anybody help me? I have some pretty hi end ball morphs and am waiting for a better rack sysytem to arrive via mail. In the mean time and after I need a dependable and safe thermostat that is going to control the temp for both flexwatt tape and heat cable. I know about the Helix DBS 1000 and have been reading about the boaphile's digital thermostat as well but don't know how to spend the money. Looking for some for more seasoned advice than my own. THANKS, DAVE

I just bought the Helix DBS 1000 with night drop cord and could not be more satisfied. Order direct and it will save you some money as opposed to buying from the Bean Farm or some other store.

You can't go wrong with the DBS 1000. I've been using helix for years and never had a problem.

-adam

For high ends I would use a duel on/off. I personally dont like the helix for the price. It is a nice unit bu I dont beleive it is woth the price...Just my opinion though...

The reason why I don't like on/off type thermostats is because when they come on, they crank the heat tape "full blast" until they sample the set temperature from the probe. This allows the heat tape to potentially get hotter than your set temperature at times depending on the ambient room temperature and sample rate of the thermostat. Conversely, when the probe reaches the set temp, the heat tape is shut completely off allowing the temps to then potentially get cooler than the set temperature until the next probe sampling.

I have seen wide swings in the actual temp of the heat tape using the on/off type thermostats. Based on my experience, proportional units like helix do a much better job of keeping a stable and more exact temperature on rack systems.

I know a lot of people use and love the on/off type of thermostat, but they are just not for me.

In my opinion helix controls are worth every penny.

-adam

For high ends I would use a duel on/off.

I would NEVER use any on/off for any animals let alone hi-end stuff. Like stated above, they can easily overheat.

I use 4 cage proportional stats for all of my racks. I have been using them for well over a year now with great success. For around $300 they can not be beat.

I am so happy with these that I am now a distributor, and will have 4-8 cage units available through my website in the near future.

I will post more info on the new units in the next few days.

I have had the GCS termos and was not pleased with them. On the johnsons and say a Big apple on/off it depends on the differnital on the thermo on the cheaper on/off thermos it ill vary from 5-8 degrees either way on the set point. On more expensive unit you have the option of setting the diff. to 1 degree. So if your wanting a 90 degree hot spot it will kick off at 90 and then back on at 89.. Junt my opinoin though..I guess to each his own.. And they do not overheat if they are set properly.

I cannot understand how you didn't like the "GCS style" thermostat.

On more expensive unit you have the option of setting the diff. to 1 degree. So if your wanting a 90 degree hot spot it will kick off at 90 and then back on at 89.. Junt my opinoin though..I guess to each his own.. And they do not overheat if they are set properly.

It doesn't matter what you set the on/off stats at, I've rayteced the heat sources alreay and had 8-10 degree fulcuation with rancos, and they were set at a 1 degree swing. As a matter of fact I have 3 rancos rotting on my shelf right now.

I have only had one ranco, I sent it back when I received it because it is like 400 pounds.. The johnsons hold perfect heat and do not flucaute. As far as the GCS they were ok just wasent impressed with them but for the money ya cant beat them for a proportional thermo...

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't digital thermostats have to "poll" the probe for temperature readings? I can't imagine environmental feedback based temp probes being used at the low prices these units are being sold at.

With a poll based probe on a on/off unit setting the temp "swing" from 5 degrees to 1 degree probably only increases the polling frequency of the probe. The problem is that even at the higher polling interval, flexwatt running at "full power" can get very hot very fast. When the tape gets hotter than one degree per probe polling interval you have a serious problem with your on/off thermostat because it is not keeping an accurate temperature. From testing that I have done with Rancos it seems that flexwatt can increase in temp from anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees per polling interval on the Ranco's 1 degree setting.

Proportional based units regulate the amount of power going to the tape so that the temp swings are more subtle and controled.

Any EEE's out there that can put their 2 cents in?

-adam