# lucky reptile pro II -HELP - PROBLEMS



## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

I have eight of these lucky reptile pro 2 thermostats. A few months ago I had too stop working properly and had to get them
Replaced. It started when I couldn't change the settings properly. It kept kicking me out of the settling before I could go up and down the menus. Then the temperture set itself to 45degrees c and then went haywire. As said these two were replaced. However a week ago I went to change Temp on them all just by two degrees. One of the thermostats wasnt responding correctly. Yesterday I found the viv at 50degrees! Won't let me into settings and not able to do anything with it! I'm wondering if anyone else has been having problems with them. I'm worried others are going to have problems. Any info would be A great help. I have spoken to the company that has supplied them and guss I'm going to have to send them all back. I think lucky reptile should also be informed but don't now if the company will tell them. If I get my money back I'm now going to have to spent even more! I
Want to warn you all about this product. Do you think I should contact lucky reptile and if so does anyone have a contact number all I can find is an email
Address.


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## tigerpaws (Feb 21, 2009)

lucky reptile is owned by a holding company ..

called

Import Export Peter Hoch e.K.

August Jeanmaire Str. 12
79183 Waldkirch

Tel: 07681/4032-0

Fax: 07681/4032-61

you would need to do some digging from here 

Alan


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Thank you


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

I've tied this number and used code for Germany but won't go through. Could you give me international dial number and check number for me thanks.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

ive got one, not had any problems so far. how old were your units before they developed faults?


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

They about six months old. Just found two more
Faulty! Temp Reading
45c! Then not being able to change any settings and then readout showing 00 or 08 etc. I am getting all of them sent back and Replaced with microclimate b2dlme's. The company I purchased them from have been very understanding. I have spoken to the guy in Germany - I'm disgusted with Him. I won't post his comments till I have new ones and these have gone back.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

so now ive had 5 in 8 of these things go wrong!!!!
had the replacements turn up but were the wrong ones that i ordered. Wanted DL2ME and got sent DL1ME. 

will be posing my finds once i have replacements - i have sopken to maker and what to share what the guy said. In the mean time i advise anyone thinking about buying one ....NOT TO!
(if they malfunction the unit does not turn off the heat source and you are likely to cook your animals. BE WARNED!)


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## hogboy (Aug 22, 2006)

Always thought those things looked a bit mickey mouse, now confirmed.
Can't go wrong with good old Habistats -)


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

habistats are good - i have several that i bought yrs ago and still use. I perfer microclimate as the kids can change the temperture! lol.

Ive used the Dave Leicester once (DL) for yrs and never had a problem just LR looked the biz but there not!

wonder if there are many that remember Dave? wonder what he would have thought on all the colour morphs avalible.


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

I've been testing a TC2-prouk for a couple of months now and all was going well untill tonight just went to check on everything and the unit's showing F:F0 and the set light is on, there's no sign of this in the operating instructions.
Anybody have any idea?


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## reptiles-ink (Nov 4, 2006)

I found that the buttons stick in, give them a wiggle so the pop back out and it works again.


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## reenie3579 (Jan 9, 2009)

I only just bought one of these, I am now a bit worried mg: 

O well I will b keeping an eye on it!


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

reptiles-ink said:


> I found that the buttons stick in, give them a wiggle so the pop back out and it works again.


I tried the buttons and I tried switching it off and back on and it stays displaying the same F:F0. I've unplugged it all for tonight and replaced it with a trusty old habistat, I'll give the distributors a call in the morning and see what they have to say about it.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Hi pollywog, loved your frogs especialy the pair
Of tomatoes! Don't trust the pro II please! Don't want you to loose anything! I have spoken to jurgen if you pm me your number I can call and let you know what he said. Just wasn't going
To post till I've had my replacement. Send it back. If you pm I'll let you know where I got mine from. Turning the unit off unplugging doesn't resolve the problem.
Mine took
About six months before the problem started and did nothing to cause the problem
They have just started going haywire. The display goes wrong ie.. 0000 or 8888 or stuck on a temperature 45c! Then when you push a button with shows the clock or parts of a number. For the saftey of your animals please be carefull!


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

ive got my TC-ProII as an override rather than the actual stat, ive got a Habistat stat on the ceramic after the TC so even if it were to fail on, none of the temperatures could go above normal. its still a little worrying though. i use mine more as a day/night controller than anything else, so the worse case scenario is that night time stayed as hot as daytime, which isnt the end of the world.

hopefully mine wont fail, but if it does i think il send it back and find some other way of achieving my goals. i already had little faith in Lucky Reptile products, they seem very cheaply put together and of low quality, however the more i read the more problems i find. their humidity controller is pretty weak as well, the sensor is so slow to react to humidity changes that it cant be used as a controller, the misting system would be on for 10 mins, then it would switch off when it finally reaches 75%. but then the humidity would still rise up, would be at 100% forever, and my misting pump would have burned out by then! it totally isnt suitable for its purpose. ive been tempted to return it on those grounds alone as right now its a £50 digital hygrometer and nothing else!!


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

Habistats are more reliable. I realise that no!


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## tigerpaws (Feb 21, 2009)

pollywog said:


> I've been testing a TC2-prouk for a couple of months now and all was going well untill tonight just went to check on everything and the unit's showing F:F0 and the set light is on, there's no sign of this in the operating instructions.
> Anybody have any idea?


knock the power off .. 

remove or short the battery. 

and try again


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

The whole point is that you shouldn't have to short it out. If it cocks up once it's going to do it again. You need to be able to rely on a thermostat otherwise there would be no point in buying one as you would have tosit at home all day watching the thing & temp. It needs a safety cut out so it doesn't cook your animals. Jurgen informs that you shouldn't use any heating that gets hotter than your animal can cope with and that ceramics shouldn't be used! I lose a snake cos I was away one night. One night. Told I shouldn't leave them. I had a 18" x 12" heat mat on a 2ft x 4ft viv (approx 20 watt without checking) and told by him this is too many watt for the viv. He told me I shouldn't use any more than 10 watt. I pointed out that his infomation said you could run up to 1000 watts, and that it says you can run all types of reptile heating. He also told me us British are stupid to use ceramics in our viv's. I wrote some of the info down after the phone call I'll post it tonight. I have to say though this has nothing to do with the company I bought them from who have been very helpful.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

animalstorey said:


> The whole point is that you shouldn't have to short it out. If it cocks up once it's going to do it again. You need to be able to rely on a thermostat otherwise there would be no point in buying one as you would have tosit at home all day watching the thing & temp. It needs a safety cut out so it doesn't cook your animals. Jurgen informs that you shouldn't use any heating that gets hotter than your animal can cope with and that ceramics shouldn't be used! I lose a snake cos I was away one night. One night. Told I shouldn't leave them. I had a 18" x 12" heat mat on a 2ft x 4ft viv (approx 20 watt without checking) and told by him this is too many watt for the viv. He told me I shouldn't use any more than 10 watt. I pointed out that his infomation said you could run up to 1000 watts, and that it says you can run all types of reptile heating. He also told me us British are stupid to use ceramics in our viv's. I wrote some of the info down after the phone call I'll post it tonight. I have to say though this has nothing to do with the company I bought them from who have been very helpful.


thats utterly ridiculous. this guy is the main man from Lucky Reptile? ive had my concerns with their products ever since i started using them. if the guy behind them has those opinions then i dont think il ever buy their products again.

so far ive had 2 ceramic bulbs from them, 1 was DOA, the replacement died after 2 hours, and got returned for a refund. ive had an Exo Terra one in there since with zero issues.

ive got a Thermo Control Pro II and a Humidity Control II, both of which are in working order at present. the clock is of extremely poor quality though, it loses time very quickly. if i set it to the correct time today, it would be off by 30 mins within a fortnight.

the humidity controller works (it has the same clock issue), but it doesnt work acceptably to control a misting system. it has HUGE hysteresis on its measurements. the sensor is perfectly positioned as instructed, my misting system is very efficient (Pollywog, with super fine mist). the misting system sprays for about 15 seconds every hour, and this is enough to maintain 70-75% humidity comfortably. if the humidity controller is reading 60% say, and i spray for 15 seconds, by the end of those 15 seconds it will be reading 63% or so. come back 3 mins later and it will be reading around 70% and will settle there. if i spray for as long as it takes to reach 70%, which is pretty much the full 2 minute duty cycle of my misting pump, i will come back 3 mins later to 90%+ humidity. it just doesnt do its job, you could never use this product to control humidity accurately. its the most expensive simple hygrometer on the market i should think. all i really use it for is the timer. but since the clock is so inaccurate...

could you PM me the contact details for Lucky Reptile or their UK supplier or whatever. i think i may see about sending my products back for a refund.


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## tigerpaws (Feb 21, 2009)

Jim2109 said:


> thats utterly ridiculous. *this guy is the main man from Lucky Reptile?* ive had my concerns with their products ever since i started using them. if the guy behind them has those opinions then i dont think il ever buy their products again.
> 
> so far ive had 2 ceramic bulbs from them, 1 was DOA, the replacement died after 2 hours, and got returned for a refund. ive had an Exo Terra one in there since with zero issues.
> 
> ...


Do Not Quote Me As Working For Lucky Reptile ! ! ! Get Your Facts Right Before Assuming Things . . . REMEMBER ASSUMPTION IS THE MOTHER OF ALL F:censor: UPS  



On the lighter side .. the lucky reptile stats are a simple pic controller that drives the thermostat and display .. and a 333 timer to drive the RT Clock taking a seed from the pic for hours and mins . 

there is very limited crc checking on the pic controller and no fail-safe systems. so if you get a program over run there is nothing to halt the controller. until it scrambles the software into a un-runnable state.. when that happens if the relays are closed (say to apply power to the heater) they stay closed 

it has a battery backup.. so the pic and the 333 timer are still running when the mains power is removed. - - - - hence if you kill all the power .. the software has to check its self against the crc and restarts the clock with a new seed . 

at the end of the day the lucky reptile products are good in principle.. but are highly lacking in the physical design route. mine ended up on my parts bin after the mains cover fell apart when I had to unplug it almost giving me an electric shock . . . . 

Alan . ( I do not and never will work for lucky reptile )


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

tigerpaws said:


> Do Not Quote Me As Working For Lucky Reptile ! ! ! Get Your Facts Right Before Assuming Things . . . REMEMBER ASSUMPTION IS THE MOTHER OF ALL F:censor: UPS


i wasnt even referring to you?! unless your name is Jurgen and you said that there should only be 10W of heating in a viv. i could have maybe quoted a little more clearly to save the confusion.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

this is what i wrote on the day i spoke to him:

Thermostat problems

6/8/09
I have spoken to Jurgen Hoch in Germany about these thermostats and i have some worrying news!

I INFORMED HIM THAT I WAS RUNNING A SINGLE HEAT (2FT MAT X 1FT - ALL NEW AND NOT MALFUCTIONING) PER THERMOSTAT. (APPROX 25 WATTS WITHOUT CHECKING) HIS INFORMATION ON THE BOX AND ON PAGE 4 OF THE MANUAL INFORMS THAT YOU CAN RUN UP TO 1000 WATTS USING ALL COMMON VIV HEATING EQUIPMENT.
HE HAS INFORMED ME THAT I SHOULDNT BE USING ANY HEAT SOURCE OVER 10 WATTS IN A 4FT X 2FT VIV AND/OR THAT CAN HEAT OVER THE MAXIMUM TEMPERTURE REQUIRED FOR THE ANIMAL KEPT. (SO WHY USE ONE?) HE SAID THAT PEOPLE IN THE UK ARE STUPID TO USE CERAMICS TO HEAT THERE ANIMALS - EVEN THOUGH I WASNT USING CERAMICS.YET THE MANUAL SAYS YOU CAN USE AND SET HEAT FROM 0-50C.
HE INFORMED ME THAT YOU CANNOT RELY ON ANY THERMOSTAT AND YOU SHOULDNT USE ANY HEAT SOURCE THAT CAN HEAT UP TO MORE THAN 30C. (WHY WOULD I NEED A THERMOSTAT THEN???)

THIS IS THE 3RD THERMOSTAT IN 8 I HAVE HAD A PROBLEM WITH! i HAVE IN NO WAY DONE ANYTHING TO CAUSE THE PROBLEM. 
HE ALSO INFORMED THAT HIS THERMOSTATS ONLY HAVE A LIFE EXPECTANCY OF MAX. 2 YRS - NOT ONE OF THESE ARE MORE THAN 10 MONTHS OLD. 

WHEN THIS PRODUCT MALFUNCTIONS IT DOESNT TURN HEAT OFF OR CUT OUT AT YOUR SET TEMPERATURE! IT ALLOWS VIV TO GET TO 50C THEN SOUND AN ALARM.(IT SEEMS TO JURGANS INFORMATION THAT YOU MUST WATCH YOUR THERMOSTAT AND NEVER LEAVE IT UNATENDED). I HAVE MICROCLIMATE AND HABISTAT THERMOSTATS THAT ARE A LOT OLDER AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM IN 15 YERS OF USING THEM. I STILL HAVE ALL THE ONES I HAVE BOUGHT OVER THE YEARS AND NONE HAVE ALOWED ANY HEATER TO OVERHEAT.

I WANT EVERY ONE TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROBLEM SO THAT PEOPLE CAN MAKE UP THERE OWN MINDS ABOUT THIS PRO PRODUCT!

HE ALSO INFORMED ME THAT HE HAS KNOWN OF PROBLEMS IN THIS MODEL IN THE UK

I DO NOT HOLD THE COMPANY I PURCHASED THESE PRODUCTS FROM AT ALL RESPONSIBLE AND THEY ARE HELPING TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM.
(UPDATE - I AM GETTING A CRDIT NOTE FROM COMPANY THAT I PURCHASED THEM FROM. 


(i have had more go wrong since! but with no snakes in vivs as i removed them but left vivs running. so far i have had 5 in 8 go wrong! after loosing a snake ill never use them again. they looked and sounded the part but pro nothing!)


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## reptiles-ink (Nov 4, 2006)

I looked inside 1 but under a different brand and wasnt impressed at all with it.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

reptiles-ink said:


> They are the same design as the lucky reptile under a different brand.


Think your right they look and sound exactly the same just sold at a cheaper price. Sorry but not willing to buy anything that looks or sounds like the lucky reptile ones. I thought they were the bees knees till they all ****ed up and cost me a fortune and a boa. Only going with habistat and microclinate from now on. Don't waste your money on anything else.


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