acu-rite?

[ixismimeixi]

alright so i finally got the most talked about therm, and now i need to know how to understand it since i got it from a friend and it has no instructions
this is what it looks like

now what is the in and out? is the in the device it self and the out the dipstick?
also is there a way to make it show on the default screen in and out instead of the time and out?
Thanks guys!
Shannon

 

[ixismimeixi]

nevermind guys i figured it out, its the time/temp buttom.. DUH!!!

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

Well, I know you said nevermind...but I just got one and I have a question so I am going to piggyback on your thread.

I totally get how to use the probe to measure the temp whereever I want to use it...I have been hanging it down onto various points on the basking tree...I found out that my temps were a fair amount lower than I thought with the cheepy dial measure which stinks but at least now I can address is...but I don't get what you do to measure the cold side at the same time...do you just stick the whole unit in the cage along with the Beardie?

Thanks!

Alison

 

[diamc]

Hi Alison, I helped Shannon out by pm so thought I would pop in here to see if I can help you too.

You need to put the probe end so that it is resting on (actually touching the basking spot). You might need to place a piece of scotch tape on the black wire near (but not on) the probe end. Then you put the thermometer part way over on the bottom of the cool side. You wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising, then the "out" reading is for the basking spot and the "in" reading for the cool side. Does that help?

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

Yup, that helps..but I have one more question. You say that the probe need to be touching the basking spot...I just kind of balanced the probe on the tree that my Beardie climbs to bask at the height where he normally goes on the top. Does it need to be held down to be accurate? Does either white or the black side need to be facing the tree...I am not sure which side of it measured temp, I guess.

I was really surprised because it is less than six inches from the top of the tree to the screen where my heat source is sitting. I was using a 100 watt ceramic heater and the room is about 76 degrees. The person at the pet store thought that since the room was quite warm, that I would onlyneed a 50 watt bulb but I got 100 anyhow...according to the dial thermometer, my temps were 105 which was great and made sense to me..but according to this thing, my temps were only 94 which is not great at all (my Beardie is barely eating and hasn't pooped in almost a week now so I am already worried). I switched to a regular household lightbulb today after finding out my ceramic bulb was not going well at all and now temps are closer to 100 which is better but I am going tomorrow to get something hotter...but before I do, I would love to be sure that I am using the new thermometer correctly, KWIM? I hope that once my better UV bulb comes in and I get this temp thing fixed, my beardie will start chowing down a bit..right now getting her to eat a small salad and a worm or two is a LOT of work and crickets are a no go under any circumstances. Ugh..poor baby is obviously not quite settled in here but I am trying to get it right.

THanks so much for your help!

Alison

 

[Ruby2uesday]

Allison, the white part is actually the adhesive side so you can stick it where you want to. However if you're like me and move it around it will get unsticky fast. I actually have a rubberband around my rock that holds the probe in place.

and about your light. You don't want to use the CHE as your basking. That should only be used to up your nighttime temps if needed. The beardies need the bright white light to protect their eyes from the UVrays. sounds wierd i know, they Need the UV bulb but need protection from it too. lol Depending on how close your basking area is and how much draft you have in your room will affect your basking temps also. you may have to raise or lower your basking, you may have to buy a higher wattage of household bulb or flood light. i had to put a light piece of plywood on top of my tank to help w/ mine. here's a pic.....

 

[ixismimeixi]

ply wood huh? too keep the heat in?
your one smart cookie
i have to hand it to you
Both these people helped me out alot alison, :lol: they are gods lol :lol:

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

I have learned that I shouldn't be using CHE as my main heat source...the stupid lady at the pet store told me the UVB light would be my light and the heat should be 24 hour and it made sense at the time to me. I have since decided to turn off the heat at night anyhow...and clearly the tank wasn't bright enough...so I am learning...slowly..but hopefully I will be there soon. My reptisun 10 bulb is on the way and hopefully will be here soon...I have the normal light on now...I think I will need to get a 150 watt bulb tomorrow for more heat (are the flood lights better? hotter for the same wattage? what about reveal..I have a 150 watt reveal already..would that be good?)...

I think ultimately I am going to order a mega-ray for my tank but I need to do a bit more figuring to see how best to set that up so till then, I am going to try to get this set up done better than it is now. I hope the extra heat at least will help with the eating and pooping issues my girl is having.

Thank you sooo much for your help!

Alison

 

[jakeh2009]

how far down from your light is your basking spot? a 150 watt bulb should be way too much. I just got a new enclosure that is about 4ft long, 2 foot deep, and 2 1/2ft tall, using a 60 watt bulb my basking temp is just about to hit 115. so i will be dropping down to a 40 watt. you dont want the ambient temp to be that hot just the basking area. With a 150 watt bulb if you had a 55 gallon tank your basking temp would probably be 120 degrees or higher and your ambient temp would be probably into the 100s. i would tape the probe to the basking spot and let it sit for about a half hour, make ure the flat side is down and see what you get. I guess if your basking area is a great distance away you may need more but i don't know. Because when i first got my beardie i bought everything the petshop owner told me too and in there was a 150 watt basking bulb. I bought the accurrite therm as well and when i placed the thing in there, the ambient temp was like 98 and the tiles there were on the bottom of the tank below the light the temp i think was like 127 degrees.. Id just double check your temps and make sure before you go out and buy a bunch of differnt lights. just start with like a 60 or 75 or whatever you have on hand and move your way up or down, giving the therm enough time to get the proper reading

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

Oh...hmmm..I had the probe kind of sitting on the branch where Norbert can bask at the highest point but it was not attached in anyway. I guess I don't know if I was measuring ambient air temp or the spot on the branch itself. do I want to attach it with the probe side down (sticky side up) then to measure the branch temp itself or do I want to use the sticky side to attach it to the branch.

On the plus side, Norbert is still looking great and was all active and friendly this morning. She ate most all of her salad yesterday (woo hoo) and a few wax worms as well! Her Phoenix worms should be here today. And best of all....this morning she made a big old poop and I am pretty sure it looks just the way it is supposed to...it had been close to a week since her last poop and I was just starting to freak a bit about that but now that worry is past...I think it was just a long time since she really hasn't been eating much but hopefully that is all going to turn around now! Oh and the little patch of molt on her tail finally seems like it is lifting off and coming off now so hopefully we are almost in great shape here. I just need to get these temps figured out the right way...

Alison

 

[jakeh2009]

id attach it with the sticky side down, use a rubber band or piece of two sided tape, im sure the surface temp is somewhat different but i cant say it would be more than a few degrees difference, are you able to use a rock or something with a platform shelf on it? this way your beardie can flatten out? is the log vertical or horizontal? guess i should have asked that first. try to get your basking area next to your uv source(mvb or retpitsun-reptiglo), this way your little one will get heat and soak the rays at the same time. with a tube style uv source 6-8 inches is recommend. Im sure you will be able to get the correct temps without using such a high wattage bulb just might have to move your furniture around a little. Good thing that she finally pooped, next time your having troubles like that try giving a warm bath and rub the belly from front to back, this is also a good way of hydrating your beardie. im going to go back and read your posts again because i probably missed half of it and jumped in, so ill go over it and see what we have here

do you by chance have any pics of your setup, if we can see whats going on then we can try to help, im trying to picture your setup in my head but dont know where to start lol, if you need help posting pictures just let me know and ill help ya out.