# can you link heat mats together/thermostat question, thanks



## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

Hi all

2 questions for you:

Can you link heatmats together (ie to run off the same mat stat)? and if so, how, is it a case of wiring to the same plug etc etc.....?? I have 2 Ultratherm 17 x 11 heatmats for new viv and wondered if they can be run together....

Also, have just bought a Thermo Control Pro II thermostat and am confused, I thought you could run ALL viv heating and lighting from it but am having problems: my BRB is in a faunarium for recuperation, with a heat mat underneath, and additional light/heat is provided by a red infrared bulb. 

The temps seem to be OK BUT which socket on the Thermo Control II should my bulb be plugged in on, as it is providing heat and light?? LOL probably neither as it shortens the life, but I have 3 bulbs to use before I can go to a ceramic etc... :whistling2: Obviously I don't want the heat mat to keep turning on and off......and most of the heat is coming from the red light anyway....

Thank you

PS am in process of setting up new viv and would like to get any problems ironed out before we move her in!! :crazy:


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## Dork Knight (Mar 10, 2008)

Just plug the heat mats into a power extension but make sure they don't exceeded the stated requirement on the mat stat.

You want the Heat Mat plugged into the Thermo Control Socket which is labelled I and your light in socket II, that's how I've got mine setup.

Why don't you want the heat mat to turn off? Wouldn't it just hit its maximum temperature and then stay there? If you do want this then just bypass the thermo control unit.


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## thomas (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi there
Am wanting to plug two heat mats into a stat as well for my home made incubator.What is a"power extention" and where could i buy one from.cheers


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

Hi

I'm being confused!!! Not that it takes much...:crazy:

If socket II is primarily for lighting which you want turned off and on by using a timer, then surely it's *not* suitable for an infrared bulb which is providing heat....? ie, I don't want the bulb to go off at 10pm and come back on at 8am, as then the only heat source in the viv would be the heat mat (and they don't seem to get the temperature up enough even with a night-time drop...). and if you swap the sockets over, then the heat mat will get switched off....?

I have unplugged the heatmat from it and put that back onto my Microclimate Ministat 100 for the time being, so the Thermo Pro is now only running the infrared bulb.

Aaargh confused!!!

Can you tell me what your set up is, and what you've got running in your Thermo Pro II so I can get an idea of what should be going off when and if I need to use the timer function at all.....? Ta :notworthy:


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## arkreptiles (Sep 26, 2007)

If it's a habistat it will likely have three cable - stick the sensor cable in the viv/box/incubator in the location you want to control the heat, the power cable in the plug socket.

The other one is a socket - plug in a multiple socket extention lead and plug the mats into this - as it says above just ensure the total wattage of the heat mats does not exceed the wattage capacity of the habistat!

Hope this helps


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## Melon (Mar 3, 2008)

if your linking two heatmatts on one stat.. its important that they are the same size and same make. as some produce heat differently and bigger sizes take longer to heat etc.. 

on a stat that is 300W MAX you can run many! each heat mat is very low in wattage.. mine at home vary from 8W to 12W each mat! so you can get a number of how many u can run on one.


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

So what I'm looking at for the heat mats then, is:

Heat mats plugged into extension lead
Extension lead plugged into the "heater output" on the stat...?
Sensor in viv on heat mats
Extension lead plugged into mains (somehow)

??? Will that work? The instructions say:

_1. Connect the mains cable from your heater to the heater output of the ministat (fitted mains socket) using a suitable 13A plug (fitted with a 3A fuse).
2. Connect the ministat to the mains supply using the fitted mains plug._

The stat I'm planning to use for the mats is a Microclimate Ministat 100 Microclimate Ministat Series Thermostats and the heatmats are Ultratherm 17 x 11 20w @ 230v...... I'm assuming that the Ministat will be able to run 2 heatmats at 20w each with no problems.

I'm sorry to be so totally stupid but my brain doesn't work this way - I can do the viv decor etc but I drive my OH nuts with questions about logical things!! :blush:


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## Whizzingdonkey (Mar 16, 2008)

Yeah that'll work!


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## Dork Knight (Mar 10, 2008)

So you're going to run the heat mats off the microclimate and heating/ceramics/lighting through the Thermo Control?

With either system, and in regards to the thermostat, place it in the relevant area.

So, for the microclimate you would want to place it on the substrate surface above the heatmats, unless you have a reptile which will burrow below the substrate - Then you would place it to the relevant depth.

With the light I'm not too sure, perhaps in the middle of the viv and an inch or so above the substrate or below the light where the reptile would bask.


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

Hi Dork Knight

Yup, that looks like what I'm aiming at. I thought I could run the heat mats and the heat bulb through the Thermo Pro II stat but it looks like it will be easier to run the mats separately and just keep the heat/lighting on the Pro II..

My only worry is the business of connecting up the mats to an extension socket and then to the stat as I've never tried it before and can't get my head round how it will work - will the stat think the extension lead is the heat source....... ow my brain hurts LOL :bash:

Do I need a specific type of extension lead or will a normal household one do? 4-way Extension Lead 13A Various Lengths


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## Dork Knight (Mar 10, 2008)

A normal one, as you've linked to should be fine.

I've not used a Microclimate so I'll use the Thermo Control Pro II as an example;

Plug the heat mats into the extension lead,
Plug the extension lead into Socket I on the Thermo Control,
Plug your light(s) into Socket II on the Thermo Control,
Plug the Thermo Control into the mains and configure

Once the device, Thermo Control and no doubt the Microclimate function in the same way, reads the desired temperature through the thermostat then power would be automatically cut to Socket I on the Thermo Control - Once it starts to cool then it will register the temperature and re-supply power to Socket I.

If you move to ceramics then a pulse system might be better, I know nothing of these so perhaps someone could advise on this.

The only concern I would have using a infrared bulb or whatnot on socket I, on thermo control, would be that the light would switch off when it hit the relevant temperature - I would have thought it better to have some system where this would not happen but I have no knowledge in this area.


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

Thanks for the advice, it's really helpful - I am SOOOO thick when it comes to practical stuff.

What temperature do you set your heat mats at on the stat?


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## Dork Knight (Mar 10, 2008)

No problem 

I've just started with reptiles and have recently been looking at a number of setups, and I own the Thermo Control Pro II, so it's all fresh in my memory - I think.

I have two Leopard Geckos in a three foot vivarium, I have the Day Temperature set to 31 degrees celsius and a Night Temperature of 28 degrees celsius - I also have the lighting set to run four fourteen hours (I just manually switch on the red nightlight bulb for my viewing of the Leos).

What will you be keeping (or have you already mentioned and I've missed it)?


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

I've "rescued" a brazilian rainbow boa from a friend - here she is, attached to me by her teeth! (LOL the boa not my friend)










She decided to try and bite me again last night but I've twigged what she's up to this time!!


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