cold water in mist system fixed

Fate X

New Member
i happened to notice the water in the mist resivoir tank is getting cold so i figured out a way to heat it with these items: one 60 wt ceramic heater ,one zoomed cage clamplight ,one dimmer switch and a 5 gallon bucket.

what i did was dis-assemble the clamp light , i removed the clamp and removed the ceramic fixture and reversed it so that i can sit it on the floor and the socket faces up so i put the infrared ceramic heater in it faces up.
then i take a heavyduty 5 gallon bucket these can be used for hot water 160f
and drill 1" holes on the bottom with a bore bit.
then you put the bucket over the infrared heater and sit it on the floor ,if you look through the holes you can see the top of the heater so you can center it.
then i used pieces of 1x3 to raise the bucket about 1/2 " off the floor so the extra heat can escape and room for the wire
.
next plug the light fixture into a dimmer switch i made mine from a extension cord,dimmer switch, switchbox.

after all that i put my 5 gallon mist tank on top of the 5 gallon inverted heater tank the water gets hot if you run the 60 wt ceramic heater without a dimmer i had 3 gallons of water in the tank and it was hot,you turn down the heat with the dimmer and set it for what temp you want.

the way it works:
the heat from the ceramic heater rises up through the bucket and goes through the holes then warms the resivior tank this works very good .
if you don't drill the 1" holes it wont got very hot and when you invert the heater bucket you gotta keep it off the floor about 1/2" i used 3 peices of 1x3 and sit the bucket on them.
im gonna take some pictures of it and put them here.
 
Fate, please post pics as soon as you can. I'd be interested in seeing how you did it. I still do not have an automated system set up, but am working through different ideas if doing it.
 
Howdy,

At one time , I had an aquarium heater in my 5 gallon water bucket. It did a great job heating the water in the bucket. Unfortuantely, that left two problems to solve: 1) how to keep the standing warm water from growing algae slime. 2) How to heat the cold water in all of the water lines leading up to the mist nozzles. I ended up using a Hydor 300W inline water heater instead. It only heats the water starting a few minutes before the mist pump turns on. I also use a bypass valve system that flushes the lines before the mist water is brought to full pressure and produces mist. It is a bit complicated, doesn't keep the water hot very long after leaving the heater but for now it'll do.
 
i seen those hydor water heaters they have one thats submersable and shatterproof i'm thinking for the future i might get one.

i will post pics tonight
 
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this has not gotten hot enough to cause a fire , i do have a fire extinguisher if it does.

i thought about this because i don't like fire , this setup is no more dangerous then using a basking light on a reptarium
also if it begins to melt or catch fire the water in the bucket would keep it contained.

i was at the hydor website and seen a few heating products that i want so i will only be using this setup for a breif time.
 
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I think it is a very creative set up. Can you feel the change in temperature in the water in the second bucket?

Heika
 
This in line heater would work great if you were using water from your homes plumbing. Just add a solenoid valve and timer. then you wouldnt need a pump or reservoir.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=RB5151
Howdy,

This appears to be a "holder" for an aquarium heater - a separate purchase.

The Hydor 300 Watt inline heater seems to be about the minimum wattage needed. With an inline heater, the water is "passing" by the heater surface for only a brief amount of time. It has to raise the water temp from room temp (maybe a winter low of 60F) to at least 90F and preferably 100F when possible. The inline Hydor has an integrated adjustable thermostat which has a max setting of somewhere a little above 90F. I would really like an inline heater that would efficiently heat the water to 120F so that by the time it reaches the farthest nozzle (~15 Feet?) that the temp would still be 90F. All-in-all, if your chameleon doesn't hate misting then warm water isn't such a big issue. Mine seem to enjoy (tolerate?) the not-cold misty/rainy water so I keep using the heating system and continue to look for ways to improve it.

Here's an example of the heater. By the way, I used a 1/4 pipe tap to put threads inside the Hydor ends so that I can use "Quick-Connect" tube connectors.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW//Class//T1/F54BB+0418+0010/EDP/41207/Itemdy00.aspx
 
I think it is a very creative set up. Can you feel the change in temperature in the water in the second bucket?

Heika

yes the water in the upper tanks gets hot theres a dimmer to control how hot it gets, during the summer i used this same setup with a 40 watt black light and it kept the water perfect.
the white bucket is a high temp bucket, i got that cage light when i first got my veileds and used it for a week then never used it until i got the mist system.
 
Howdy,

Thanks for the info :D! I always felt that one of those "instant hot water" makers that I used to see in hotels would be fine but I jumped onto the Hydor a bit too quick. You've kinda re-energized me into looking around again. I was getting pretty excited with the link that you posted until I saw it draws 29 amps :eek:. I'm afraid that I'll not be able to convince myself to pull a 30 amp service line to the chameleon room :(. But I'm sure that someone will spot a 5 amp unit for me :rolleyes:. That 29 amp unit shows a 41F rise at a 1/2 gallon per minute flow rate which would have been more than plenty. Oh well, I guess we have to keep looking at the other ones on that site. I really should try to keep it down to about 600W so that I don't risk tripping the breaker with all of the basking lights etc. also drawing power.
 
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Howdy,

Thanks for the info :D! I always felt that one of those "instant hot water" makers that I used to see in hotels would be fine but I jumped onto the Hydor a bit too quick. You've kinda re-energized me into looking around again. I was getting pretty excited with the link that you posted until I saw it draws 29 amps :eek:. I'm afraid that I'll not be able to convince myself to pull a 30 amp service line to the chameleon room :(. But I'm sure that someone will spot a 10 amp unit for me :rolleyes:. That 29 amp unit shows a 41F rise at a 1/2 gallon per minute flow rate which would have been more than plenty. Oh well, I guess we have to keep looking...

you could get reall creative and get a wind mill
 
Howdy,

I had been avoiding a tank-based heater system but after reading that the tankless types only turn on after the water flows at 3/4 gal/minute, which is faster than our mist systems run, I'm having second thoughts :eek:. I had been avoiding the tank style because I was concerned about having to KEEP it hot all the time. Maybe I should just put it on a timer that turns it on before the mist system runs and then off again.
 
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