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Heat Tape

surfrkidTS

surfrkidTS

New member
First of all, I am building a rack and need to know how to hook up heat tape to a thermostat. :eek1: I don't know which thermostat i am using yet but the heat tape needs to cover the bottoms of a three level rack. Help appreciated! pics even better!
 
Most thermostats have a female electrical plug wired into the system. You solder an extension cord to the hear tape, with a male plug, and simply plug it in. :)
 
so you need an extension cord for each level of the rack? (Is there maybe a site that will tell me step by step? because I can do computers, but the electronics behind them amoung other things just screws me over again and again) :rolleyes:
 
No, you'll attach the extension cord to the first piece of tape, then wire each piece to the next in serial. There is an brief explaination on my rack system thread.

It should look something like this:

=l---------/////////////////-------\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--------///////////////

Key:

=l------ is the plug

//////// and \\\\\\\\ are pieces of flexwatt

-------- is wire


Photo:
 

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and than feed the wire up through the sides of the rack? Another dude from Fauna told me they lose too much heat if you do that. It seems easy though. Anyone notice temp loss from =----///////----\\\\\\\ ?
 
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Sounds like a novice

Not unless you craftsmanship is horrible! My backing is flush with the rear of the shelves.
 
that is the way that mine is set up and I have not noticed any kind of heat loss except on really cold nights. I have my thermostat set at about 83 degrees and it stays that way through the entire day.

Now, if you live in a modern house, that is insulated and temperature controlled, then you won't notice the heat drop that I do at night.
 
ok, sounds like your way makes much more sense, but heres a pic of the diagram someone sent me on how to make the rack... isn't a very bright pic but you'll get the idea
 

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example1.gif


Please excuse the artwork..lol.. Here are some link to my site that may help...
http://www.mgreptiles.com/FLEXWIRING.html
http://www.mgreptiles.com/FLEXCRIMP.html
http://www.mgreptiles.com/THERMOCOMPARE.html


Hope this helps,
-Matt
 
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