# Habistat dimming thermostat help



## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Ok so today i got my self the above from cash genorator. Got home and There was no instructions. Iv set it up how i think it goes but on my thermotator it reads just under 80f i have the habistat dimming thermostat set between 80 - 84f on the habistat it says mains - heater - sensor and on the side theres a plug can any one tell me how it has to be set up? Have i done it right? And have i got the right one to controll the temps?


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## Willdbow (May 17, 2008)

Go on the habistat web site and you can download instructions:2thumb:


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Whats the website? Im on my phone so dont think i can download anything


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## Tracymuk66 (Mar 13, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Whats the website? Im on my phone so dont think i can download anything


 If you are on here you can down load but if you can wait a while I will see if I can find some instrutions and scan them for you then I can PM them


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Tracymuk66 said:


> If you are on here you can down load but if you can wait a while I will see if I can find some instrutions and scan them for you then I can PM them


That would be great thanks


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

Place probe (Sensor) at warm end of viv, on the substrate flooring
Plug heat source plug into the socket at the end of the heater wire (Heater)
Plug thermostat (Mains) into your household mains supply
Set dial to desired warm end temperature
NB: Whilst the dial may read 80-84 fahrenheit, the temperature may not always be 80-84 fahrenheit. You will have to play around a little to get your temperatures to where you want them to be. For example; some thermostats of the exact same model will give 80 fahrenheit for a setting of 80, where as another unit may give 85 fahrenheit for a setting of 80. They are not perfect, but are worlds better than guessing and hoping! Use your other temperature reader (an IR one or probe one, not stick on ones or dial ones as they suck) to ascertain what temperatures you are getting out of the heat source when the thermostat is set to 80-84 and go from there.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

What about the plug on the side on the thermostat! And do i put the probe on the heat mat?


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> What about the plug on the side on the thermostat!


Plug your heat source into the plug socket that comes from the thermostat, plug the plug that comes from your thermostat into your mains.


in the gecko said:


> And do i put the probe on the heat mat?


On top of the flooring at the warm end. If you have 1mm of substrate, it goes on top of that, if you have 30mm of substrate, it goes on top of that.


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## filardimarg2 (Nov 6, 2008)

I was told to put the probe in the cool end.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

oobernoob said:


> Plug your heat source into the plug socket that comes from the thermostat, plug the plug that comes from your thermostat into your mains.
> 
> On top of the flooring at the warm end. If you have 1mm of substrate, it goes on top of that, if you have 30mm of substrate, it goes on top of that.


Iv done all that and the heat mat has gone off and the heat light isnt on but when i take the wire out from the termostat it lights up and heats up


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> What about the plug on the side on the thermostat! And do i put the probe on the heat mat?


 
If your using a heat mat i think you've got the wrong stat if its a dimmer stat as i think they need a minium load of 40watt which is quite a big heat mat. Your find that the stat will just turn on at full power and not control the mat just give it full heat all the time.

You really want a mat stat which are ok but just turn on and off so will give you quite a large heat range or a pulse stat which just pulse the heat source keeping it warm all the time and the temps stay very constant.


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Iv done all that and the heat mat has gone off and the heat light isnt on but when i take the wire out from the termostat it lights up and heats up


 
Or i was wrong and the stat just turns off completly if less than 40watts is connected :whip:


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

filardimarg2 said:


> I was told to put the probe in the cool end.


Told wrongly then. Ask yourself how this could let you know what temps were at the warm end, and how it could allow you to control them. 



in the gecko said:


> Iv done all that and the heat mat has gone off and the heat light isnt on but when i take the wire out from the termostat it lights up and heats up


That is because the temperature is above the set temperature. If the temperature is set to be 90 fahrenheit, the heat light (orange/red LED) will turn off when the temps raise above 90 fahrenheit, letting you know that the heat source has been turned off by the thermostat.
So long as the green LED is on, then the thermostat is working just fine.
As soon as the temp drops below 90 fahrenheit, the thermostat will re-initiate the heat source again, slowly raising the temps in your viv.

As said, a mat stat is more appropriate for a heat mat as a heat source, and a dimmer stat is more useful for a bulb heat source. Whilst a mat stat will dramatically shorten the life of the bulb if used for a bulb, i am not aware of any reason to not use a dimmer stat with a heat mat. Although, as said, the requirement of 40W sounds reasonable for a stat capable of monitoring 600W of power.


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

toad650 said:


> You really want a mat stat which are ok but just turn on and off so will give you quite a large heat range or a pulse stat which just pulse the heat source keeping it warm all the time and the temps stay very constant.


Unless you go for a Thermo Control II by 'Lucky Reptile' which allows you set the tolerance level to as little as 1 Celcius 
I always find myself singing on about these stats


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

oobernoob said:


> Told wrongly then. Ask yourself how this could let you know what temps were at the warm end, and how it could allow you to control them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It has no green L.E.D im real annoyed now lol


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> It has no green L.E.D im real annoyed now lol


Oops, sorry my mistake, i'm looking at my habistat mat stats, and having poked my head round the corner to see my habistat dimming stat, it has no green LED. My bad.
Try turning the dial up and down to see if the heat light LED lights up. Obviously if it's too warm then the heat light LED wont come on even if the dial is turned to max.



EDIT - just re-read your post saying that if you remove the probe the heat light LED comes on. Everything's fine. Just that the temps are high that is all, when they settle, the heat mat will come on again to heat up to the set temps.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Tryed that and it hasnt come on. My heat mat says 230 volts on it.


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## Tracymuk66 (Mar 13, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Tryed that and it hasnt come on. My heat mat says 230 volts on it.


 It would have to be 239 volts in the UK its the wattage that matters. As already said I think you have the wrong stat a dimmer stat is normaly used to control heat lamps


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

What rep are you setting up for? This will help as people will know the setup you need to aim for so can guide you that way.


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## Hellcat (Aug 10, 2009)

oobernoob said:


> Unless you go for a Thermo Control II by 'Lucky Reptile' which allows you set the tolerance level to as little as 1 Celcius
> I always find myself singing on about these stats


i was looking at those the other day. do you think they are better than the habistats?
was also looking at the thermo control pro II.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Dam what a waste of money now im realy annoyed! How much are the worth?


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Dam what a waste of money now im realy annoyed! How much are the worth?


Dimmer stats are the more expensive of the basic stats. Did the shop have any others? see if you can swap it.

What are you setting up for anyway cos it might be that you can use a light rather than a mat anyway n its not all wasted.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Its for my leo. It was from a second hand shop how much are they worth?


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## toad650 (Feb 9, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Its for my leo. It was from a second hand shop how much are they worth?


Yeah no way your getting away from a heat mat there. There about £40 new off ebay i think n upto £55 or so in shops. A new mat stat off ebay is around £20.


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Oh well lol just spoke to my bro n hes got 2 mat stats for me to buy lol. Do you think my stats worth a leo?:whistling2:


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

Hellcat said:


> i was looking at those the other day. do you think they are better than the habistats?
> was also looking at the thermo control pro II.


I got into them for incubation purposes really. Wanted my incubator temps to remain as constant as possible. Looked at the tolerance ratings of the habistat ones and some can go as much as 10 Celcius out of the set temperature, either way too!
10 Celcius vs 1 Celcius, no arguement really.
Thermo Control Pro II just allows for a night time setting too i think. Have only ever seen them in the £60 region so a bit too much for me.

Sorry to hijack your thread there.


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## Hellcat (Aug 10, 2009)

oobernoob said:


> I got into them for incubation purposes really. Wanted my incubator temps to remain as constant as possible. Looked at the tolerance ratings of the habistat ones and some can go as much as 10 Celcius out of the set temperature, either way too!
> 10 Celcius vs 1 Celcius, no arguement really.
> Thermo Control Pro II just allows for a night time setting too i think. Have only ever seen them in the £60 region so a bit too much for me.
> 
> Sorry to hijack your thread there.


yeah i was looking at that one to lower night temps for my beardie.
think i'll start a new thread about it, go there instead of hijacking this thread lol.

thanks.


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## oobernoob (Jun 4, 2009)

in the gecko said:


> Oh well lol just spoke to my bro n hes got 2 mat stats for me to buy lol. Do you think my stats worth a leo?:whistling2:


I paid £60 for mine. Not seen them too much cheaper either to be honest. Livefoods has them around the £50 mark i think, maybe more, can't remember.
I'd just be happy to be giving the leo the right temps to be straight with you fella. Easily going to cause it some distress with a mat heating up past the safe temps.
See if your brother will trade you 2 mat-stats for your 1 dimmer stat? That'd be worth it 

EDIT - here ya go: http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=83&products_id=153 cheaper than i thought. Always a bonus though right


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## in the gecko (Sep 21, 2008)

Hes stoped keeping reps so hes selling up so
I need to get rid of my dimmer lol. Do you think its worth a leo? I got a spare set up lol want to fill it


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## arsenal30 (Feb 28, 2017)

im having problems. wth tiis as well every time i reduce the dimming dial below 80 the light goes out realy frusratin any advice would be apriciated


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

arsenal30 said:


> im having problems. wth tiis as well every time i reduce the dimming dial below 80 the light goes out realy frusratin any advice would be apriciated


Can you start your own thread with as much information as possible - the exact make and model, whether you are using it for a light or a mat, which animal, viv size etc?


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