• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Good and Bad experiences with Flexwatt...

Jenstar

Jenstar

IN OVER MY HEAD ;)
I want to use flexwatt, but before I install it I would like to here some of your personal opinions on it... Please feel free to fill me in on your experiences good and bad...
 
I use it now for my wooden cages and I haven't any problems....yet.
but i didn't have the same concerns as you but didn't find much wrong with it. I did try running it on top of the work bench unregulated for a few hours and the center got up to 110 degrees but that about it.
I hope more folks post to help you out more.
 
I dont use it ..."yet"
but I will..I haven't herd anything bad about it..I have stock in UTH's for now...but I guess if you have a way to controll the temp...it should be fine..oh' and if its installed right..I am no good with electrical work...lol..sorry I can't be more of a help...just my 2 cents:rolleyes:
 
Get someone experienced with Flexwatt to seal the connectors if you're totally unfamiliar with using it. They make a special crimping tool for that, but I tend to use a hammer. As with any heating, test it on a viv for several hours before sticking an animal right in. I've been shocked a time or two with sloppy installations, and had a few get much hotter than I'd anticipated. A thermostat is a worthy investment if you're going with flexwatt.
 
It depends, if you get a rack it probably will be installed... I was planning on buying the tape prewired to use on existing shelves that I have... Oh, and I am going to use a thermostat as well... I'm just a worry wart and I want to make sure it's safe for my snakes...

One more question, When you use a thermostat where do you guys suggest I place the probe??? I know you put it under the bedding in a tank, but obviously I'm gonna have a few tubs sitting on it... So what tub do I choose???
 
Problems can happen. If anyone tells you differently, they're full of it. I've had it happen, Clay Davenport's had it happen, others have had it happen. Not trying to discourage you in the least of using FlexWatt (I still use it); just be careful when wiring it, use a good thermostat (I'm a fan of Helix personally), get a good min/max digital thermometer, and if something doesn't look/smell right in the room, immediately check the FlexWatt.

Heat rises, use your top tub for thermostat and thermometer probes.
 
Excellent post, TME. I think it should be pointed out that ALL heating methods are potentially dangerous. Lighting, flexwatt, or manufactured UTH's all have burned animals or started fires. The only fire I've ever had was with a store bought heat pad. I took photos and will dig those up and post. It killed several expensive bearded dragon morphs I'd just purchased, and burned the mopani wood perch and wooden stand.
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
Heat rises, use your top tub for thermostat and thermometer probes.
Click to expand...

I disagree. You should monitor all your tubs with everything up and running for a little while and figure out which is warmest in your particular rack. I cannot explain why but the top tub in one of my racks is cooler than every other tub except the bottom one. I use the warmest tub (second from top) on that rack for my thermometer and probes.

The top tub will *usually* be warmest but you should not take that for granted.

Edit to add: I've got flexwatt on two racks. One is homemade the other was purchased. I bought my flexwatt for the homemade rack from Reptile Basics and let them do the crimping for me so I did not have to worry about it (you should still check to make sure everything is secure). I haven't had an issue yet but I don't have extensive time using it (only a couple of months).
 
Ceridwen said:
I disagree. You should monitor all your tubs with everything up and running for a little while and figure out which is warmest in your particular rack. I cannot explain why but the top tub in one of my racks is cooler than every other tub except the bottom one. I use the warmest tub (second from top) on that rack for my thermometer and probes.
Click to expand...

You disagree that heat rises? ;)

Your are correct though; I didn't take into account that she's in California where rarely temps would reach what my coldest temps are. I would imagine to that if one had ceiling heat / air conditioning (or whatever that would be called - I have baseboard), that would effect temps from top to bottom in a room.
 
TripleMoonsExotic said:
You disagree that heat rises? ;)
Click to expand...

Bah! I disagree that heat rising will always result in the top tub being hottest!

I think it may have to do with the top one having more exposure to the ambient air than the middle tubs combined with the AC in the apt coming in through vents near the ceiling on the wall.

I haven't had to deal with not having the AC on yet. It's still hitting mid-high 80's every day in Orlando and the apt is on the top floor (something about heat rising....).
 
Thankyou everyone... I thought about using heat cable instead, but I don't know if I would get enough heat if I only have one line of it... Do any of you use heat cable and does it get hot enough without doing several lines of it??? I hope you understand what I mean... I confuse people sometimes...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top