Eco Zone Vivarium Control
- Thread starter summoner12
- Start date
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- controller eco zone ecozone
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
This is a really neat system.
One point to mention I would set your misters to go off an hour to an hour and a half after sunrise/lights on. The first part of the morning it is very important for some species to bask and charge their batteries for the day. An early drink and an early long misting may interrupt that habit. In the morning for the first hour of the day I have seen my Parsons basking in the greenhouse, when Parsons are a species that is not supposed to bask. As with the greenhouse and similar to this system the lighting for the early day and late evening is gradual and may evoke a more natural and important basking patterns for captive chameleons.
One point to mention I would set your misters to go off an hour to an hour and a half after sunrise/lights on. The first part of the morning it is very important for some species to bask and charge their batteries for the day. An early drink and an early long misting may interrupt that habit. In the morning for the first hour of the day I have seen my Parsons basking in the greenhouse, when Parsons are a species that is not supposed to bask. As with the greenhouse and similar to this system the lighting for the early day and late evening is gradual and may evoke a more natural and important basking patterns for captive chameleons.
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summoner12
Avid Member
This is a very good point.
summoner12
Avid Member
I just resolved the issue with the router turned wireless bridge. I ended up just looking at my other converted router and copying the settings
. The issue seemed to be that I didn't set the gateway and I had the security stuff a bit off. One thing I do not understand.... I have my main router set to channel 3, and my iMac is also on channel 3..... but the working bridge was set to 6.... so i did the same thing for the other bridge.... and it worked. Now I can do updates and check on the unit from my computer instead of doing it all on the unit.
summoner12
Avid Member
Another update....
I moved the terrarium over to a shelf I hung on the wall today. I also changed some things around with the EcoZone. The EcoZone now tells my misting system when to mist based on humidity in the terrarium. I wasn't able to work the bugs out because the EcoZone needs a software update in order for the I/O control to respond to the humidity. For some reason my netbook wouldn't load and operate the software update program. Tomorrow I will communicate with Tony and try to figure things out.
Here is the unit and terrarium moved over to the new shelf I hung on the wall:
As you can see I have the misting nozzle connected right into the AquaZamp MONSTER misting system.... The mantids in the other room will get mist whenever the frogs need it.
The unit
I moved the terrarium over to a shelf I hung on the wall today. I also changed some things around with the EcoZone. The EcoZone now tells my misting system when to mist based on humidity in the terrarium. I wasn't able to work the bugs out because the EcoZone needs a software update in order for the I/O control to respond to the humidity. For some reason my netbook wouldn't load and operate the software update program
. Tomorrow I will communicate with Tony and try to figure things out. Here is the unit and terrarium moved over to the new shelf I hung on the wall:
As you can see I have the misting nozzle connected right into the AquaZamp MONSTER misting system.... The mantids in the other room will get mist whenever the frogs need it.
The unit
Jammonlee
New Member
likely have the same problem as i with the updater software. my laptop was missing an active x client that was included in many laptops with certain software. i had to go here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms968493.aspx, download and run to get the updater software to run on my laptop.
RAP66
Member
Glad I found this thread!! New guy here.
I've had my ecozone since 2009. I believe I was one of the few people to purchase an original unit v1.01
2yrs later now a poor home owner and I can finally setup my reptile room. Next weekend is the Sac show, and I'm hoping to get a few goodies - Diego Suarez Panther <hopefully>. Right now I have: 2 carpet pythons, 1 green tree pythhon, 2 adopted ball pythons, 3 crested, 1 leachie, 1 gargoyle.
I've been itching to setup a tropical setup.
I've had my ecozone since 2009. I believe I was one of the few people to purchase an original unit v1.01
2yrs later now a poor home owner and I can finally setup my reptile room. Next weekend is the Sac show, and I'm hoping to get a few goodies - Diego Suarez Panther <hopefully>. Right now I have: 2 carpet pythons, 1 green tree pythhon, 2 adopted ball pythons, 3 crested, 1 leachie, 1 gargoyle.
I've been itching to setup a tropical setup.
summoner12
Avid Member
So I did get around to messing with the Lunar Cycle mode. I do operate this on my gecko now. It is a pretty neat feature!
Zen Reptiles
Avid Member
I have a few questions about this:
How many cages can this do? 1, 2, or 4? Can the Misting system be hooked up independently from this, but be controlled by it?
There are 4 lines, can each line be hooked up to a 3-outlet extension cord and thus do more cages, so long as it doesn't exceed the 450 watt max.
How many cages can this do? 1, 2, or 4? Can the Misting system be hooked up independently from this, but be controlled by it?
There are 4 lines, can each line be hooked up to a 3-outlet extension cord and thus do more cages, so long as it doesn't exceed the 450 watt max.
EcoZoneTon
Member
Hi Zen Reptiles,
This is Tony, I am the designer of the EcoZone Vivarium Controller. I’ll take a stab at your questions here!
Multiple Cages, Multiple Outlet Splitter
Yes, for sure, many/most people use this for multiple cages. Extension cord with multiple outlets is no problem, just make sure you stay under 450W per outlet. This works great for your lighting modes – dusk/Dawn, Dimmed basking spot, Lunar, etc. Temperature or humidity controlled modes (Heater and Humidity controller or Auto Mister) it is a bit trickier since the AC outlet is controlled by only 1 of the 4 probes. So in these cases what is typically done, you place the “control” probe in one cage, and a monitoring probe in the other cages. This works if the cages are similar in size and in the same room, and heating elements are similar, the cage temperatures should all track.
Misting System
The misting system can be controlled by the EcoZone, either time-based, or humidity regulated, or a combination of both. The nice thing is that the Mister can be run from the I/O Output port of the EcoZone, so you keep the 4 AC lines free for other uses (heaters and lighting, etc.) This is like a 5th line on the unit.
Also as you know the misting systems support multiple nozzles, so you can easily use one system for multiple cages there too.
Hope this info helps.
Please free free to email me [email protected] and I can help you with specific setup, etc.
This is Tony, I am the designer of the EcoZone Vivarium Controller. I’ll take a stab at your questions here!
Multiple Cages, Multiple Outlet Splitter
Yes, for sure, many/most people use this for multiple cages. Extension cord with multiple outlets is no problem, just make sure you stay under 450W per outlet. This works great for your lighting modes – dusk/Dawn, Dimmed basking spot, Lunar, etc. Temperature or humidity controlled modes (Heater and Humidity controller or Auto Mister) it is a bit trickier since the AC outlet is controlled by only 1 of the 4 probes. So in these cases what is typically done, you place the “control” probe in one cage, and a monitoring probe in the other cages. This works if the cages are similar in size and in the same room, and heating elements are similar, the cage temperatures should all track.
Misting System
The misting system can be controlled by the EcoZone, either time-based, or humidity regulated, or a combination of both. The nice thing is that the Mister can be run from the I/O Output port of the EcoZone, so you keep the 4 AC lines free for other uses (heaters and lighting, etc.) This is like a 5th line on the unit.
Also as you know the misting systems support multiple nozzles, so you can easily use one system for multiple cages there too.
Hope this info helps.
Please free free to email me [email protected] and I can help you with specific setup, etc.
It's been a long time since I've seen that name. EcoZone Vivarium was a sponsor here 10+ years ago. They produced some great products at the time and Tony was always a wealth of information. Unfortunately, I don't think they had enough sales to sustain their business.
I don't have any contact info for Tony. Hopefully someone else does.
Is nobody producing something similar today to their temp probs?
I don't have any contact info for Tony. Hopefully someone else does.
Is nobody producing something similar today to their temp probs?
All I find are the rj-11 ones, his were rj22. I could try and rig one up if I buy rj22 plugs, but I was hoping to just find someone with extras or not using their unit anymore. We bought 2 of the ez400s a LONG time ago, i finally hooked them up 2 years ago and I love them!
psycoreefer
New Member
Any luck - I'm in the same boat - got t2o EZ400 controllers but also only 2 temp probes.
I bought some 10k rtd's off amazon and crimped an rj22 on and they seem to work. The stock ones I had measured at 8.5k. The temp sensing is very close, close enough to dial it in with a temp gun like I usually do anyway...
psycoreefer
New Member
The problem is that there are a lot of different 'temp probes' thermistors, thermocouples and RTDs, plus newer '1 wire' digital sensors - and then mix in the fact that there are different sub types in each category, plus the plug type RJ9/RJ22 and its pretty hard to match something up without knowing whats what. I think I found a contact lead for Tony and sent him a message, perhaps he'll get back to me. Even the 10k RTD that feflicker ordered is only 'close' to the original probe type. If I don't hear back from Tony I'll probably go down a similar path.
psycoreefer
New Member
Uploading this for anyone else who is searching in the future. The EZ400 (green box, not the later grey box) used a 10K B3976 NTC thermistor probe from betatherm that is no longer available. Searching Digikey and Mouser doesn't show any exact matches, although some are 'close'. I'm not sure how far off using a probe with a different Beta would be in the 60F - 110F most folks using these are likely to care about. I've ordered a few 3950 probes from amazon to test with and see how far off they are from the 'real deal'.
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